The Hidden Past
by siccarith
Summary: A mysterious ninja, trained in the ways if the very first, original ninja, returns to Konoha after his parents' exile. Takes place posttime skip and follows the anime, not manga. Original character. Warning: Strong sexual scenes in later chapters
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1: Before the Legend 

The usually peaceful village of Konoha was in chaos. In the center of a raging mob stood the cause. A slim woman of the Nara clan clung tightly to a tall, powerfully built man, the red fang tattoos beneath his eyes and the large wolfhound at his side marking him as one of the Inuzuka. A small boy, no more than two years of age, stood between them, both arms around his mothers leg. The mass of people surrounding them was none other than their respective clans, each yelling and screaming at the trio as well as each other. Though the history behind the feud was unknown, even by most of the clan members, the Inuzuka and Nara clan had been rivals for hundreds of years. To the credit of each, the rivalry did little to affect their daily lives, and any conflict rarely got out of control. Both Inuzuka and Nara could work and even fight side by side, going so far as to save each other's lives on numerous occasions.

Despite this apparent lack of hostility, each clan member was taught to hate the other from birth. Their secret hatred of each other had never come out…until this day. Shortly before the attack of the Kyuubi, the woman of the Nara had found love with the man from the Inuzuka and, knowing any public relationship was impossible, they had married in secret. Soon after, a baby boy resulted from the union and was raised by a good friend to both the parents. For years they managed to live in peace until a Nara, practicing his ninjutsu in the shadows, as is their way, saw the woman depart the small house where the child and his foster parent dwelled. Shortly thereafter, the Inuzuka man came to the house and was greeted by his cheerful son. The Nara clan was renowned for their intelligence, and so the man witness to the event came to the correct conclusion with little effort. He swiftly reported to his clan head and, within hours, the forbidden couple and their child were exposed to the hatred of both clans. Now they stood stoically, taking comfort in each other and their child at their feet. Around them, the clans anger grew and the crowd, slowly escalating to the point of violence.

Suddenly, just before the first blow could be thrown, the Third Hokage appeared between the clans, alongside the forbidden family. At the sight of him, the flaring tempers cooled and, at their leaders request, explained the situation, though it told the Hokage little he was not already aware of. He had long known of the laws of each clan, and how any contact between the two beyond what was required as comrades in Konoha was prohibited. A marriage between the two was unheard of and no one could come to an acceptable conclusion as to the penalty. Though execution was a popular choice by lower ranked members of the clans, the leaders held many reservations, not the least of which being that each of the convicted was the child of their clan's head. Secondly, the pair were among the most powerful of their clans and would likely fight for their child. Neither clan wanted bloodshed among their own. With the Hokage's assistance, each clan came to one conclusion: exile. The couple would be disowned by each of their clans, and would be sent from Konoha. Privately, the Hokage made arrangements for them to be welcomed into a small hidden village, which had long since vanished from memory and passed into legend. The unfortunate lovers and their innocent child were sent from Konoha, and neither was heard of again for many years.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2: Ninja of the Past 

The two guards at the Konoha's gate looked up at the approach of two ninjas that had not been seen in the village in years. The pair walked through the gate without a word or a glance at the dumbstruck guards.

"Was that…?"

"I think so. They've finally come back!"

The two guards sat back in their chairs, discussing the return of Konoha's best known, though perhaps least popular, ninja and his famous sannin sensei. They were so absorbed in their conversation that they failed to notice the approach of yet another person until he was practically in front of them. Startled, the pair of guards jumped to their feet.

"State your business, stranger!" the commanded the newcomer.

He turned to face them calmly.

"I've come to visit Konoha, and possibly to make a home here."

One of the two guards wrote down the information, and then asked, "Name?"

"Kasei, and this is Caimaru" he replied while patting the head of the wolfhound beside him.

The guard looked up from his rapid scribbling. "Surname?"

"None worth mentioning." Said Kasei.

"You're a ninja, correct?"

The arrival simply nodded.

"What rank?"

"Ninja."

The guard hesitated, puzzled by the odd response, and then finished his writing by simply writing him in as "genin".

"Alright. I'm going to have to ask you to report to the Fifth Hokage, if you intend to stay for any length of time. You can find her in the Hokage tower at the base of the mountain." He pointed to a tall red building with the kanji for "fire" on it.

The dark-clothed man nodded and set off towards the tower, leaving the guards mildly confused.

The Hokage of Konoha, Tsunade, was asleep on her desk when the mysterious man entered her office. Seeing her state of unconsciousness he paused, studying the woman. Smiling, he cleared his throat loudly to wake her and unknowingly unleashed a disaster. The Hokage shot straight up and lunged at him across the desk, her fist raised to strike. Before the blow could land, though, the man spun out of the way with unnatural speed. Tsunade stumbled by him then stood, blinking as she woke fully and looked at the unknown person in front of her. He appeared to be no more than sixteen or seventeen and was dressed in a dull brown tunic and pants under a slate grey cloak. The hilts of two short swords protruded over his shoulders and a kunai holster was on his thigh. The large wolfhound at his side watched her every move carefully, ready to defend its master if she tried to assault him again. Finally, the boy broke the silence.

"Do you always try to kill guests?"

Tsunade had the grace to blush faintly, though it quickly vanished.

"Who are you and what do you want?"

Kasei gestured to her desk, where a slip of paper had just appeared.

"There's your guards report. It should have everything I told them."

Tsunade cautiously went to her desk and read the paper, keeping one eye on the boy. Kasei, however, didn't so much as move until she finished.

"Well, Kasei…you may be coming to live here?" Tsunade asked/

The teenager simply nodded.

"It says here you are a ninja. Are you willing to accept the position of a Konoha ninja and work for the good of the village?"

Again, all she received was a nod.

"My guard says you're only a genin, but from how you dodged me…I'm not so sure." Tsunade watched the boy carefully, looking for any involuntary motions that would betray his intent. She had tried to measure his skill through what she could sense of his chakra level, but found that she could barely sense the boy at all!

This time Kasei shook his head. "I never told them I was a genin. I merely said that I was a ninja."

"Then what ranking do you hold?"

"I am not ranked by your standards." Said Kasei. "If you need to put me with a team, then just put me with people my age. I'll be able to keep up."

Tsunade eyed him for a moment, trying to read what he was thinking, but she was only met with his steady gaze, neither friendly nor hostile. Finally, she nodded in acceptance.

"Very well. Report back here tomorrow at 7 am. You will meet your teammates, but not your forehead protector yet. You are now a Konoha ninja by name, but not yet by deed. Prove yourself worthy of the title, and you will earn the symbol."

Kasei gave a short bow of thanks, then turned to leave.

"Oh, Kasei, one last thing."

He turned and looked at her expectantly.

"Where did you live before here? Where were you trained?"

Kasei stood silently for a moment, looking out over the village through the window behind her, before finally replying.

"The Hidden Village of the Past."

With that, he vanished without a trace along with his Caimaru. Tsunade stood in shock for a full minute before slumping back into her chair, the full magnitude of the boy's statement hitting her.

"_The village of the Past…"_ she whispered to herself as the closest thing to fear she had felt in years struck her heart. _"The hidden past…"_


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3: Dark Ally 

The newly formed Team Kakashi stood at attention in the Hokage's office, awaiting their briefing. All any of the three ninja had been told so far was that they would be adding a new member to their team. Just then the Hokage herself burst in, her usually composed face flustered.

"Oh good, he's not here yet. Ok you three listen up, I need to make this fast before he gets here. I don't know how much he'd want you to know. Your new teammate is a ninja…"

"Well duh, baa-chan!" interrupted Naruto. "We're ALL ninja!"

Sakura's fist slammed down on Naruto's head. "Baka! Tsunade-sama has something important to tell us about him, so shut up and listen!"

Tsunade was holding her head in her hands, trying to ignore the incident.

"Anyway, as I was saying. He is a ninja. Do any of you know the history of the ninja?"

Kakashi began to speak, but was interrupted by an eager Sakura.

"The first ninja were originally small clans of assassins trained in martial arts and stealth. But they had no knowledge of chakra, and so couldn't use any jutsus, so obviously couldn't keep up with today's ninjas…"

Tsunade shook her head. "Yes and no. True, they had no knowledge of jutsus, but were every bit as skilled as today's ninja in every other respect."

"What does this have to do with anything?" Naruto butted in again. "Those ninja are long gone, extinct!"

"That's where you're wrong." Said a voice from the corner. The three Konoha ninja spun in unison, all drawing weapons and pointing them towards the source. A shadow detached itself from the corner and stepped forwards, becoming recognizable as a hooded and cloaked person.

"Who're you?!" screamed Naruto, seemingly on the verge of exploding. Kakashi, while less vocal, was in full agreement. How had this person stayed hidden in the relatively empty room for so long without being seen? The jounin raised his forehead protector, exposing his sharingan in case of a fight.

"I'm your new teammate, Kasei." Said the cloaked figure. He then turned to the Hokage. "Thank you, Hokage-sama, for filling them in on some of my history. It saves me the trouble of doing so later."

Tsunade nodded and sighed, relieved that she had not revealed too much. Kasei swept his gaze over his new comrades, his face revealing none of his thoughts until he looked at Kakashi.

"Are you the only competent ninja here?" he asked bluntly.

Kakashi was somewhat surprised by this question. "Well, I am a jounin to their chuunin and genin ranks, but why do you ask?"

"Well first of all, you were the most cautious when I first let you see me. Instead of only drawing only your weapon, you readied what I'm assuming is your most powerful asset, your sharingan. When facing an unknown opponent, preparing with anything but your best is foolish."

Naruto was about to interrupt again, but Kasei continued.

"Before even that though, the first thing I noticed was the dress of the three of you. Sakura, the only place where you could hide with that pink outfit is in the middle of a flower field. And Naruto, I can't even think of a place that would disguise that bright orange jumpsuit. The small amount of black on your shoulders makes up for nothing. Kakashi is the only one dressed in colors that are acceptable for camouflage."

Kakashi looked at the other two before nodding in acceptance of his logic. Sakura flushed, knowing that the mysterious boy was right. Her choice of attire was something she had be criticized for by nearly every teacher she had. Naruto, however, couldn't accept what he perceived as a blatant insult.

"WHAT MAKES YOU THINK YOU CAN TALK TO ME LIKE THAT? BEING A NINJA'S NOT ABOUT WHAT CLOTHES YOU WEAR! SHUT UP!" the blonde boy roared, before charging at Kasei with his fist raised. Kasei watched him dispassionately until he was just a few feet away, before reacting. Faster than even Kakashi's sharingan could track, Naruto found himself bent over with his arm twisted painfully behind his back and a kunai tip against his neck.

"You seem like a troublesome kid." Said Kasei in an uninterested tone. "Do me a favor and don't try that again."

Kakashi and Sakura just stared in shock while Tsunade began to rummage through her drawers for a bottle of sake. After a tense moment, Kasei stepped back and released Naruto. The scared boy scrambled back to his two friends.

"So…you're a taijutsu user?" asked Kakashi, attempting to break the tension.

Kasei just shrugged beneath his cloak.

"You heard what Hokage-sama said. The first ninjas didn't use chakra at all. So really, what I do can't even be considered taijutsu, because that requires chakra for your movements."

"But _can _you use chakra?" asked Sakura boldly, despite being terrified of this new boy.

"Sure. My parents taught me all sorts of ninjutsus before they died. I just don't use most of them."

Naruto, his courage returned, began talking again. "Hey, you ever gonna take off that hood? Or is this gonna be like the deal with Kakashi and we'll never get to see your face?"

Kasei stared at Naruto evenly for a moment, then slowly pulled back his hood. Beneath it, his face was lightly tanned. His black hair was shot through with streaks of silver and tied back behind his head. His eyes were a piercing emerald green; darker than Sakura's, and below each of them was a blood red fang tattoo. _WOAH, HE'S HOT, _Sakura's inner-self yelled. Sakura blushed faintly before crushing the thought with an image of Sasuke.

"HEY! You've got tattoos just like Kiba!" yelled Naruto.

"Who is this Kiba?" asked Kasei, though he believed he already new the answer.

"Inuzuka Kiba." Answered Sakura, after punching the excitable Naruto. "He's a member of a clan with an affinity for dogs. You'll always see him around with a little dog on his head. Or at least you used to…lately, he's been the one riding on the dog!"

Just after she said this, Kasei's wolfhound Caimaru wandered into the room and slumped down at his master's feet, who kneeled down to stroke him. The two other teenagers in the room gaped at this.

"You ARE like Kiba!" yelled Naruto. "Are you an Inuzuka too?"

"NO!" yelled Kasei, the first time he had shown any real emotion so far. "NEVER compare me to them."

Naruto and Sakura paled at the malice in his voice, and even Kakashi took a step back, but by then the infuriated boy had regained control.

"Forgive me." He said, his voice back to its quiet tone. "You couldn't know but…I have a bad history with them." He breathed it deeply, and then turned to the Hokage. "Anyway, were we going to be assigned a mission?"

By this point, however, Tsunade was well through her fourth bottle of sake and was far too inebriated to string together a coherent sentence, much less a mission assignment. Kakashi sighed, then grew solemn.

"She told me about the mission already. The Hidden Sand is in a very serious situation and requires our help. I'll tell you more on the way there. Meet at the gate in an hour."

His three companions nodded and Naruto and Sakura headed for the door. Kasei, however, turned back to the corner he came from and stepped into the shadow, vanishing completely. The two other teenagers had already departed, and so missed the occurrence, but Kakashi stared at the now empty corner in shock. _That was the Shadow Shift technique, _he thought to himself, _one of the Nara clan's highest shadow control jutsus, letting them teleport through one shadow to another. How does he know that…_

Naruto and Sakura met at the gate at the appointed time and discovered that Team Kakashi was not alone on this mission. Team Gai, consisting of Hyuuga Neji, Tenten, Rock Lee, and Maito Gai himself was waiting at the gate. At the sight of their comrades, Lee and Gai pumped their fists in the air, shouting something about the united power of youth. Neji and Tenten merely waved, their expressions already showing the annoyance common to those who spent more than a few minutes around the green jumpsuit-wearing pair. Seconds after Naruto and Sakura arrived, Kasei appeared, stepping away from the shadows of the gate with Caimaru as if he had suddenly materialized there (which he had, though none of the others knew if this ability). The ninja's hood was back up, hiding his face in shadow, and he was now wearing small sections of light armor on both his forearms and shins. He nodded to his two teammates and turned to meet the others before Gai and Lee exploded from excitement. Neji introduced himself first, temporarily interrupting the pair's speeches.

"I am Hyuuga Neji, jounin." He said, bowing formally. "We've been told to expect some great things from you, my friend."

Kasei returned the bow.

"My name is Kasei. I hope I can meet your expectations, Neji-san."

Tenten next walked up to him shyly.

"I'm Tenten, a chunin and weapons mistress."

Again, he bowed to her.

"I have a great deal of respect for those skilled with weapons. The art of the ninja was founded around the use of weapons and the body."

Tenten blushed lightly, wishing she could see his face, then jumped out of the way before she was run over by the remaining overly energetic pair.

"I am Maito Gai!"

"And I am Rock Lee!"

"With you at our side, our power of youth will be unstoppable!!"

Kasei looked over at his other comrades and saw them rolling their eyes, so decided that this performance was the norm for this bizarre pair. He looked the two of them up and down critically.

"Taijutsu users?"

"HAI!" said Lee. "I dream to prove to everyone that, even without genjutsu

and ninjutsu, one can still be a great ninja!"

To this, Kasei repeated his respectful bow.

"That is a dream I can understand. I myself try to use only hand-to-hand or weapons in combat. If you ever need assistance, do not hesitate to ask."

Tears suddenly cascading down his face, Lee struck his patented "nice guy" pose.

"I will not fail, Kasei-san! Arigato!"

As Kasei turned away from the emotional boy, Kakashi appeared.

"Yo."

"It's about time, Kakashi-sensei!" Sakura yelled. "Now what's this mission

about?"

Kakashi sighed and put away his ever-present Icha Icha Paradise novel.

"I'll get straight to the point. The new Kazekage, Gaara, has been kidnapped by the Akatsuki organization. The Sand shinobi have requested our assistance in his retrieval. Normally, only jounin would attempt a mission such as this, but you all are the best we have available at this time. Do not get separated from each other, and if we must split up, we do so in pairs, got it?"

The two teams nodded, even Gai following his rival's instructions without complaint.

"We should be able to make it to the Sand in three days. We'll make camp as soon as the sun sets. I don't want to hear any protests about needing to travel more each day. If we're exhausted when we arrive, then we're no help to anyone. Now let's move"

The eight ninja leapt to the trees, accelerating quickly. As they traveled, Neji watched the new arrival closely. Something about his movement from branch to branch seemed strange to him until he activated his bloodline limit, the Byakugan, and again looked at the boy. Astounded, the Hyuuga dropped back next to Kakashi.

"Kakshi-sama, there is something strange about your newest teammate."

The masked ninja smiled beneath his mask.

"There are many strange things about him, but I'm sure your eyes can find some that none of us have seen. Do tell."

"He doesn't seem to be expending any chakra. My clan knows better than any that all of a ninja's movements use at least some chakra. That's what makes our Juuken style s effective; by closing off the tenketsu of a target, we can render them helpless, even without a strike to a vital organ. But he…" Neji looked at Kasei again before continuing. "He doesn't seem to be expending anything…and traveling at this speed requires more chakra than just normal movement."

Kakashi nodded, accepting Neji's assessment. The original ninja were a topic that had always intrigued him and he had studied any information he could find on them, so this occurrence hardly surprised him.

"You have been told of Kasei's training, in the Village of the Past, correct?"

Neji nodded.

"As I'm sure you know, the first ninja trained without the knowledge of chakra. Of course, they still had the energy within their bodies and used it unconsciously as every non-ninja today does. As knowledge of the human body advanced, the ninja's discovered the existence and how it helped them. Many decided to use this power to it's fullest extent and became the predecessors of today's ninja. A select few, however, were devout traditionalists, believing only in the strength of muscle and bone, not a newly discovered mystical substance. These ninja began to develop chakra-suppressing techniques; very similar to the various seals we have that can block a target's chakra, but an exercise of the persons control instead of a constricting seal. Over time, they managed to completely suppress their own chakra and began to train without it. The final result was a chakra-less ninja with all the speed and skill of a chakra user. Those ninja could still use their chakra, but kept it suppressed until it was needed, preferring to rely on the strength of their body."

"But I can still see the chakra circulating within him. It is slow and faint, but he hasn't stopped it or removed it." Said Neji.

"That only tells us that either he has chosen allow his chakra to flow, or he is not fully trained in the arts of the original ninja. If you ever have to fight him, pray it is the latter. Without a circulating chakra system, your Juuken strikes would be…"

"Completely useless." finished Neji. "Interesting. He is more dangerous than anyone could have believed."

Kakashi nodded, then ordered the Hyuuga to return to his place in the traveling formation. Any further discussion would have to wait until nightfall.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4: Journey to the Akatsuki 

The first two days passed uneventfully, with little being spoken among the group except for Gai and Lee's constant banter and Naruto's rambling. The second day soon drew to a close and the Leaf shinobi made camp in a small clearing. While Team Gai and most of Team Kakashi pitched their tents, Kasei began gathering wood for a small fire. He had stated the night before that he preferred sleeping outdoors and so was given the duty of preparing the camp while the others readied their own equipment. He dumped a final armload of dead branches into the shallow fire pit along with Caimaru's mouthful of twigs. Striking a piece of flint across a kunai blade to create a shower of sparks, he lit the smaller twigs and fanned them to a flame before using them to light the larger branches. By that time, the others had finished arranging their tents around the fire and proceeded to unpack provisions to toast over the flames. Kasei sat in silence, gazing in the flames and eating only a rice ball while the others chattered around him. One by one they drifted off to their tents until the silent ninja was left alone. Only then did he stir, rising silently and walking out of the dimming firelight into the woods beyond, his loyal wolfhound trailing just behind him.

Sakura woke unexpectedly several hours later. After much tossing and turning, she finally gave in to being unable to sleep and quietly rose and exited her tent. Outside, the fire was nothing but glowing embers and Sakura looked around, yawning, for a moment until she realized neither Kasei nor Caimaru was in sight. Closing her eyes to focus, she detected a very slight chakra signature a short distance away and headed towards it, thought the sense was so faint that it could as well be an animal. After a minute of walking, she neared the source of the chakra and hid herself in the bushes, looking around for the source. Soon she saw Kasei, lying against the tree with his hood back and Caimaru at his side, staring up at the night sky. Sakura silently began to crawl back, unsure whether the unpredictable shinobi would want company and not wanting to risk it. Suddenly, she felt a slight spike in the chakra behind her and she froze, unable to move another inch. She looked down in fear and saw four dark lines touching her hands and knees. The lines led back to Kasei's hand and Sakura saw a small smile on his face. He twitched his fingers and the kunoichi found herself forced to her feet by an invisible force, then made to walk towards Kasei, who still hadn't moved a muscle besides his hand. When she got within a few feet of him, she finally found the courage to speak.

"W-what are you doing?" she whispered.

Kasei finally looked up at her, the smile still on his face.

"Kage Kairai no Jutsu. The shadow puppet technique. I use my shadow to catch a target and control their movements, like the chakra strings of puppet users except the target must be on the ground."

"I have a friend who can do something like that," said Sakura, her fear temporarily forgotten, "except he uses his entire shadow and has his enemy can only make the same movements he does."

Kasei's eyes suddenly narrowed and Sakura's fear returned tenfold.

"Kage Mane no Jutsu…the Shadow Imitation technique. Your friend is from the Nara clan, I assume?"

Sakura nodded mutely.

"Bastards. They're worse than the Inuzukas…"

Kasei glared at the ground for a moment, before remembering he still held Sakura in his jutsu. Glancing up at her, he made a fist with his controlling hand and the shadow tendrils dispersed. The pink haired girl collapsed at the sudden lack of support, but before she had fallen an inch, Kasei was at her side, supporting her until she found her footing. She froze at his sudden touch and he was forced to lower her to the ground himself to keep her from falling.

"You know, you don't have to be afraid of me." He whispered to her.

She slowly relaxed as he stepped back and sat back against the tree again.

"I can't help it…" she said softly. "My entire childhood was spent learning to kill, and yet you seem to have learned those lessons far better than I ever could. Even the way you talk seems to speak of death more surely than anything I've ever faced."

Another small smile tugged at Kasei's mouth, though his gaze never left the sky.

"No matter how it seems, I'm not a killer. Years ago, I discovered that the most deep-seated fear of most people is death. Threatening them with it is the quickest way past whatever emotional front they put up. It's just too troublesome to wait for them to trust me before they learn to leave me in peace."

Sakura eyed the emotionless shinobi, conflicting emotions leaving her unsure what to feel.

"How do you make friends like that?"

"Never had any friends, really. The ninja of the Hidden Past don't like outsiders and, since my parents and I came from another village, we weren't popular." His hand drifted to his Caimaru's head. "The only friend I've ever needed is Caimaru." Sakura stared Kasei, no longer sure what to think about him any more. He caught her gaze and just laughed softly. "I may scare people, but I'm just a guy who likes to be alone and look at the stars."

She looked at him for a while longer, then yawned.

"Don't you ever sleep?"

"I can sleep while we travel and stay on course with my nose and ears. I have too much going in my head, and I love the night too much to sleep through it…"

He settled back against the tree next to Caimaru signifying the end of the discussion. Entirely confused, the kunoichi forgot the rest of her questions and lay back in the grass, allowing her gaze to follow his back up to the heavens.

The Leaf ninja awoke at dawn to the shouts of a certain blonde haired boy. Groaning, Kakashi crawled out of his tent and saw Naruto practically running in circles with the members of Team Gai trying to calm him.

"She's gone! That Kasei-bastard took her! He betrayed us and kidnapped her! He's probably taking her to the Akatsuki as we speak! Come on, come on, no time to eat, let's go save her!!"

Before Kakashi could talk to the overly excited boy, Kasai's large wolfhound wandered into the camp.

"See, Naruto?" said Tenten, relieved to finally have some hard evidence to convince the boy. "Kasei treats that dog more like a person than he does us. He wouldn't leave him behind."

She turned to Caimaru.

"Can you show us where Kasei and Sakura are, boy?"

The dog let out a huff, somehow managing to convey his distaste at being referred to as "boy", but nonetheless turned and began to walk off, indicating they should follow. After several minutes of walking, they began to hear the quiet notes of a wooden flute. A moment later, they say Kasei high on the branch of a tree, playing a simple melody on a hand carved flute and facing the sunrise. Hearing their approach, he dropped to the ground, tucking the flute into his belt as he fell and landing easily. Naruto charged him the second he touched the ground.

"WHERE'S SAKURA YOU BAS-oof!" he tripped cleanly over a sleeping Sakura, who he had entirely failed to notice in his blind anger. Climbing to his feet, he looked back at the sleeping girl, then spun back to Kasei, charging a swirling Rasengan in his hand. "WHY WAS SHE WITH YOU? WHAT DID YOU DO TO HER?!" He dashed at Kasei again, Rasengan leading. His target studied the attack curiously until he was a few feet away, then stepped back into the tree's shadow, vanishing and reappearing in Neji's shadow. Naruto swung at thin air and staggered forwards, looking wildly around for Kasei.

"That's an interesting technique. May I ask where you learned it?" asked Kasei amiably as he watched Naruto's antics.

With a roar of anger, Naruto spun and dashed at him again, but made it only a few steps before Kasei kneeled and pressed four fingers to the ground. Shadow tendrils extended and held Naruto, just like Sakura the night before. The boy struggled vainly for a moment before roaring. "WHAT DID YOU DO TO ME?" His constant shouting woke Sakura, who sat up and looked around groggily.

"Sakura! Are you okay? Did he hurt you?" gushed Naruto, his immobility temporarily forgotten.

Sakura winced at his loud voice.

"Baka, of course I'm all right. You're more likely to hurt me waving that Rasengan around than he is."

"Rasengan?" interrupted Kasei. "You learned the Fourth's technique? Maybe you're not as stupid as you look…"

"Damn right I'm not!" bellowed Naruto. "I'm gonna become Hokage, and then even you will ha-slap oww!"

"Yeah, yeah, just shut up already." Said Kasei, twitching his finger again to make Naruto slap himself across the face. The other ninja couldn't help but burst out laughing at the ridiculous sight and Naruto's face turned bright red in embarrassment and rage.

"Let me go!"

Kasei raised an eyebrow and made another gesture, forcing him to perform a leaping twirl.

"Say _please_, and promise to stop annoying me."

Naruto turned, if possible, an even brighter shade of red.

"NO, you bastard! Let go!"

"Kasai, come on, let him go so we can get going." Said Sakura, finally taking pity on Naruto.

With a sigh, Kasei released the jutsu and Naruto fell to the ground. Without a word, he turned and began walking off. The others hurriedly grabbed their gear and rushed off, Naruto trailing at the back, complaining about how no one had helped him. Ignoring the obnoxious blonde, Kakashi sped up to walk along side Kasai, questioning the strange boy.

"You seem to have a good knowledge of shadow jutsus. First the Shadow Shift, and now the Shadow Puppet. The ninjas of the Hidden Past aren't known for their jutsus, and those in particular are a carefully guarded secret of the Nara clan. Where did you learn them?"

"My mother taught them to me." Kasei said flatly, his light-hearted attitude long gone.

"Is she a Nara clan member?" pressed Kakashi.

Kasei stopped, his expression hardening as he stared at the ground in front of him.

"…no. She was not"

"Was?"

Kasei began walking again.

"Both my parents were killed two years before I arrived in Konoha."

After that, Kakashi left the boy alone. They were near their destination, and it would not do to have Kasai angry before a fight.

After a short time, the Konoha ninja came to a long gorge with a wide river flowing across the bottom. A tall archway stood against one wall and within it was a massive boulder. Neji activated his bloodline limit and looked into the side of the gorge.

"This is it. It's faint, but I can see two moving people and one still body, which I'm assuming is Gaara. The rest of the chakra signatures are very faint and outline the form of the other Akatsuki members…it seems to be some sort of incorporeal projection of them." He closed his eyes briefly to shut off his Byakugan, and then turned to the others. "The projections are not threatening. It seems that we will be fighting only two of the organization. I do not foresee a problem."

Kakashi shook his head warningly as he exposed his sharingan.

"No. Do not forget, these are members of the elite Akatsuki organization. Even if we do outnumber them four to one, they are still among the mightiest foes you will ever face. Proceed with caution."

"HAI!" shouted Gai. "And now, my youthful companions, on to victory!"

Before anyone could stop him, the excitable jounin launched himself at the boulder, leading with a powerful kick meant to shatter it. He struck with the force of a meteor strike and the impact shook the earth, but Gai bounced off the boulder without leaving a scratch. Kakashi sighed at his colleague's eagerness.

"There is a seal on this passageway, for those who did not notice."

Gai bounced to his feet, undaunted.

"Then remove it, so we may proceed!"

Kakashi leapt down in front of the boulder and examined it before consulting his teammates.

"Alright, this is tricky. There is a Gofuu Kekkai on this entrance, a five seal barrier. To remove it, all five seals must be removed at the same time. We need to locate the seals and send people to each to remove them. Neji, can you see them?"

The Hyuuga reactivated his bloodline and searched the surrounding woods.

"Yes. They're each in different directions."

"We will get them!" declared Gai. "Kakashi, be ready to remove the fifth seal here when we are in position. Team Gai, MOVE OUT!"

The four ninja darted off into the trees. After several minutes, Gai's voice came over the radio, announcing that they were all ready. Simultaneously, the seals were torn from their locations and the barrier was dispelled. Now Kakashi looked to Sakura.

"Now it's your turn. Be a good girl and knock on the door for me, would you?"

A malicious smirk crossed the kunoichi's face as she pulled on her black gloves.

"My pleasure, Kakashi-sensei."

Kasei briefly wondered what the girl intended to do as she charged towards the boulder, but that thought just as quickly changed to surprise as she slammed her fist into the solid rock. He suddenly found himself dodging shards of stone as the barrier shattered beneath her blow. When the dust cleared, Sakura stood at the entrance, a small smirk on her face.

"That was…impressive." Offered Kasei as he walked up next to her. "Remind me not to annoy you."

The two shared a laugh, but the lighthearted moment was broken by a sudden call over the radio.

"Kakashi! You may need to go on without us. These seal's seem to have been trapped." Said Gai, his normally exuberant voice sounding strained.

"Are you all alright?"

"For now." Came the reply. "An exact duplicate of ourselves seems to have spawned. We will have to defeat them before we can assist you. Go on ahead, we'll catch up."

Kakashi agreed and began to move down the tunnel, but Kasei hesitated, appearing to be deep in thought.

"Gai." He called over the radio, and then continued without waiting for a reply. "I have heard of a technique that sounds like this one. If I am correct, these clones are an exact copy of each of you from the moment you removed the seal, though they lack creative intelligence. The only way to beat them is to either outsmart them, or find a way to make yourself more powerful than you were in the instant you removed the seal. And opening chakra gates won't help, by the way."

"More powerful?" came Tenten's distressed call. "How can we do that in such a short time?"

"I don't know!" Kasei yelled back. "Just try. If one of you succeeds, help the others before you come after us."

The members of Team Gai readied themselves for battle, thinking desperately about what Kasei had told them. Only one suddenly smiled, as wicked a grin as any had seen from him. Rock Lee broke away from his opponent suddenly and bowed in apology.

"Please excuse me for a moment."

The bushy-browed boy removed his backpack and removed a small bottle with the kanji for "sake" on the side.

"If what my comrade Kasei tells me is true, and I do not think he would lie, you are not actually a living thing." He said conversationally while removing the bottle's stopper. "Therefore, inebriation will not affect you the way it does me. I will show you my Suiken Ryuu, the Drunken Fist style!"

With that, he downed the bottle of sake. He stood still for a moment, blinking stupidly, then suddenly passed out cold on the ground. The clone froze, unsure how to react, but then slowly approached. When the original Lee failed to react, the clone drew a kunai and lunged. A split second before the blade would have impaled him, the unconscious boy jerked to the side, the kunai missing by a hair. With an animalistic growl, the replica stabbed again, but his wrist was suddenly caught. His target, Lee, opened his eyes, which were unfocused and foggy. From the slight flush of his face, it was obvious that the strong alcohol had already taken over. He leapt to his feet with a heavy stagger and assumed a strange fighting stance. The clone also regained its feet, then charged to attack the barely conscious Rock Lee. For the next several minutes, the only sound that could be heard from the clearing was the heavy impact of bodies flung forcefully against both trees and ground.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5: Two Against the Swarm 

Team Kakashi dashed down the tunnel, fearing they were already too late to save the Kazekage. The short passageway opened into a massive cavern, at the far end of which stood a massive, nine-eyed statue. On the tip of each of the statues fingers stood the projection of an Akatsuki member, only two members being physically present. In between them all floated Gaara, who appeared to be entwined within ethereal serpents, with vast amounts of an unknown energy escaping his mouth and eyes. With a shout of rage, Naruto charged towards Gaara, ready to leap into the unknown substance to save him.

"No Naruto!" shouted Kakashi, but the blonde ignored him until Kasei added on to the command.

"Naruto, you have to interrupt the ritual to save him. Attack the Akatsuki!"

With a nod, Naruto shifted his course for one of the ten fingers, which bore a physical enemy; however, instead of directly attacking the enemy ninja, he charged a Rasengan in his hand and smashed it into the base of the finger. The mighty ball of chakra shattered the stone and sent the man tumbling to the ground. With the circle broken, the serpents vanished and Gaara dropped suddenly. Only Kakashi's quick catch prevented him from smashing into the stone floor. The Akatsuki around them all reacted to the disturbance, some in dismay, some in anger, and some in quiet acceptance. The apparent leader spoke out above them all.

"Enough. We have still harvested a sufficient amount of the Ichibi for our purposes. Disperse and continue your hunts."

The various projections vanished except for the leader and the two physical members.

"Sasori, Deidara, deal with these intruders." Said the remaining image before flickering out of existence.

Deidara, the ninja who had bee knocked to the floor, regained his feet and surveyed the Konoha ninja.

"You may not like this, Master Sasori, but I'll take the Jinchuuriki."

The long bodied being, presumably Sasori, nodded.

"Very well. Try to take him alive if possible."

Deidara didn't bother to respond, but released a small bird from his hand before forming a hand seal. The bird enlarged to over a hundred times its size, large enough for the Rock nin to leap onto its back while it took Gaara's unconscious form in its beak. As it soared off through the entrance, Naruto raced after it. Before anyone could react, he was far out of reach, leaping down the ravine after the bird. Kakashi sighed in frustration.

"Can you two take him?" he asked the remaining to, gesturing towards the patiently waiting creature. Kasei looked over and examined it carefully before nodding.

"We'll hold him off long enough to keep him out of your way. Go get Naruto before he gets himself killed."

The jounin nodded, then shot out of the cavern, racing after the boy. It was only after he left that he realized that Kasei had not answered the question. Meanwhile, Kasei and Sakura spread apart, facing the strange being before them.

"Was that wise, boy? Sending your sensei away like that…you could use his help."

"He is not my sensei, merely a comrade. And Naruto will need his help against the bird-rider far more than we will against you."

Sakura used the opening presented by Sasori's conversation with Kasai and hurled several kunai at the creature. Instead of sinking in and wounding him, however, the blades struck and ricocheted away. Sasori's laughs echoed around the chamber.

"HAHAHA. You cannot hurt me with such tiny weapons, young kunoichi." He undid the clasp of his Akatsuki cloak and threw it aside. Beneath it was a massive, insect like body that was certainly man-made. It's back was a large red face and from it's open mouth protruded a long spiked tail, which whipped about, then stabbed at Sakura suddenly. Kasei dove at the girl, knocking her aside and forcing the tail to miss by an inch.

"It's a puppet!" Kasei exclaimed as they climbed to their feet. "The actual user must be inside."

"Very good, young ninja. You will have to get past my puppet to face me. But I do not think you will live that long."

The puppet's mouth suddenly opened wide and unleashed a hail of needles. Sakura and Kasei dove apart, each working furiously to dodge the needles. In the midst of an aerial flip, Kasei hurled a kunai with an explosive tag tied to it, but the massive tail batted it aside before the weapon could detonate. The two ninja landed together back out of range.

"Damnit. That tail offers too great of a defense, and anything that can get through will probably be absorbed by the armor." Kasei shook his head in exasperation. "I don't think I have anything that can crack it."

Sakura studied the puppet carefully before slowly raising her hand and clenching her fist.

"Well I do. I just have to get close enough."

Kasei looked at her, and then nodded.

"I'll try to distract him. Avoid that tail, I think it's poisoned."

The two ran at the massive puppet, dodging needles as they went. Kasai leapt off to the side, throwing a hail of shuriken and kunai. The puppet shifted to face him more directly, deflecting some of the projectiles and letting others just bounce off of it. With it's attention on Kasei, Sakura appeared behind it and swung her chakra-charged fist…but was suddenly intercepted by the tail and knocked far away into the cavern wall.

"SAKURA!" yelled Kasei, but a moment later she staggered out of the small crater her impact had created.

"I'm fine, but that didn't work."

Kasai paused to whip off another tagged kunai, and then appeared at her side.

"Good tactic, but badly planned. We need a way for you to get in close and dodge that tail."

The two watched the puppet, which simply waited for them to come closer, deadly tail whipping about. Suddenly, Sakura spoke up.

"Guide me."

"What?" Kasei looked over at her, confused.

"Your reflexes are better than mine, and you'll have a better perspective to avoid the attacks if you watch from a distance. Use your Shadow Puppet jutsu to guide my movements. Let me be your puppet."

"Sakura, I'm no puppeteer, and the Shadow technique is hardly as precise as chakra strings anyway…"

"It will be good enough." interrupted Sakura. "If you can dodge all the attacks yourself, then you can control my body to do the same."

Kasei studied both the girl and their opponent before nodding.

"Alright. The bonds will be loose enough that if you have to move on your own, you'll be able too. For the most part though, just follow the movements I give you."

He stepped behind Sakura and kneeled, pressing his hand to the ground and extending his shadow to her before standing again.

"Good luck." He offered, and then thrust his hand out forwards. Sakura stumbled into a sprint before Kasei became accustomed to the shadow control, then felt herself regain her balance and dart towards the puppet as fast as she would if she was in control. A hollow laugh emanated from the monstrous creation.

"Another attempt? Surely by now you know you have no hope of reaching me." Said Sasori, before unleashing a cloud of needles.

"We'll see about that." Muttered Kasei, then jerked his hands. Sakura felt her arms lift of their own accord, but did nothing to fight it as her body weaved through the swarm. Needle after needle soared past her, some narrowly missing but none so much as brushing her skin. A low growl escaped the Akatsuki member. He raised his left arm, drawing their attention to its strange irregularities.

"You will never dodge this." He stated certainly before launching off the arm. After a few feet, the limb exploded, completely filling the air with poisoned needles. Sakura's eyes widened as the impenetrable wall approached her and heard a sharp intake of breath followed by a curse from behind her. She began to dodge to the side herself, believing he couldn't get her through the swarm, but was brought up short by a jerk of the shadows. She found her body suddenly sprinting towards the oncoming hail. As the thousands of spikes neared her, she closed her eyes, bracing herself for the painful strikes. A split second before the impact, though, Kasai jerked her to the side. She opened her eyes to find herself spinning and twisting through the needles, miraculously avoiding every one. In the midst of an evasive twirl, Sakura looked back to her companion. His eyes were half closed in concentration and his hands were writhing in an intricate dance, controlling every muscle in her body to get her through alive. Then she was spun away and found that she was through! Just a few feet away stood the insect-like puppet body of Sasori. She charged chakra to her fist as Kasai drove her forwards, then she took control. The massive tail swept at her but she dove over it and swung at the puppet's hard shell. On contact with her fist, a spider web of cracks covered the hard surface, then it suddenly shattered. Kasei used his puppetry technique to yank Sakura out of the way of the flying shards. She landed next to him lightly as he released the technique. The two watched as a tall figure rose from the rubble. Sasori turned to face his opponents, his expression deadpan.

"Impressive." He said softly. "Such fantastic strength and such…extraordinary control. You would have done well as a puppeteer, boy."

"My preferences lay along a different path." Kasei spread his stance slightly and faced Sasori openly, his face shadowed by his hood. "Now come."

"Not yet, I think." Said Sasori. "Even If you distain the art, I make use of it."

"I do not distain it. The control and focus required by the puppet art is phenomenal, and I respect that. I simply do not feel my strength lies in their control."

"Either way, a puppet master will use his minions long before he himself comes to the fight. Meet my greatest creation, the third Kazekage."

From a scroll he summoned a large, man like puppet. Kasei looked the puppet up and down.

"Substantially less armored than your other one. I do not see how you intend for it to defeat us."

"Ah, but you forget. Your pink-haired friend has proved even the heaviest armor to be vulnerable to her strength. Now I will use offensive force to crush you. The Third was considered the strongest of the Kazekages for his special skill, the Iron Sand." A cloud of iron flakes around the puppet began to form. "And now I own his control of the metal."

Kasei's eyes narrowed at the large puppet, then at its master.

"I too, have my skills, Puppet Master. You may own the sand and iron through that puppet but I own the shadows. You cannot compete with the dark."

With that proclamation, he stepped back into the shadow of a rock and vanished. Sasori looked about, confused, then whirled to Sakura.

"Where has he gone girl. Has he run, and left you to your fate?"

Sakura, who had already seen the Shadow Shift used, just smiled.

"You've lost. Give up, and we won't kill you."

As if on cue, Kasei appeared in the puppet's shadow and, in a whirl of limbs and kunai, dismembered it. The collecting iron suddenly dispersed and fell to the ground as the ninja turned to Sasori.

"Against a true ninja, a powerful defense is a thousand more times effective than a powerful offense. It is just as she said. Surrender now, and you will live."

"I have a better idea." Said Sasori with the barest hint of malice. "I will not give in, but you will…_burn._"

He raised his hands and his palms opened up. With a cry of warning to Sakura, Kasei dove to the side as a torrent of flames gushed from the limbs. The two leaf nins dove behind a rock and conferred for a moment as the intense flames ate through their shelter. Just as it was about to break through entirely, Sakura sprinted off to the side. Sasori followed her, forcing her to leap away from the heat, and temporarily took his attention from Kasei. In the split second he was turned away, Kasei stepped into view and pressed his hand to the floor. Sasori's eyes widened as his body suddenly ceased to moving. Kasai stepped into plain view with a slight smile and moved his fingers. The puppeteer's arms involuntarily began to move back on him, the flames nearing his own body. Suddenly, just before he was engulfed in fire, Sasori's arms detached at the shoulder and dropped to the ground, somehow rolling into a position that sent the dying flames at Kasei. He sidestepped easily but was forced to release the shadow hold.

"Is he entirely a puppet?!" cried Sakura in shock.

"Almost, I think." Said Kasai while he moved towards her. "Some part of him has to be living though."

Sasori, meanwhile, was looking down at his detached arms and the shattered puppet of the Kazekage, then slowly shifted his gaze up to Kasei and Sakura.

"Apparently you're too dangerous to hold back on. Let us just skip the preliminaries and move to the main event, shall we?"

He opened his robe and dropped it to the ground. Then he drew out a summoning scroll. Simultaneously, he opened a panel on the left of his chest and activated the scroll. A hundred puppets suddenly appeared, each attached to a chakra strand from his chest cavity.

"An entire country has fallen to these puppets, young ninjas. You cannot prevail."

Sakura stepped back nervously and Kasei surveyed the field.

"Sakura, do you know any mass-effect jutsus by any chance?"

She shook her head.

"I'm a _medic_, Kasei. I can do brain surgery and punch through a stone wall thanks to Tsunade-sama, but I'm not cut out for this kind of fight."

Kasei nodded, then looked around once more, muttering _'so troublesome…' _beneath his breath, before focusing on Sasori.

"I warned you, Puppet Master, that an offense is not as useful as a defense against a true ninja." Slowly, he pushed back his hood and unfastened his cloak, then drew the two ninja-to from across his back. "I dislike being forced to use these, but you leave me no choice."

Sakura moved close to his side, noticing offhand the band around his bicep that had been concealed beneath the cloak and the kanji on it, though she couldn't make out what it said in the dim light.

"Kasei, what do you plan on doing? There are _scores _of them."

He stepped forwards unconcernedly.

"I will fight them."

"But how can you beat that many? No one can!"

"I know. I can't, I was bluffing him. I will try to give you an open shot at him."

"And you want me to take him out?"

Kasei nodded.

"Yes. Fight on the edges without engaging the main group and strike when you see the opportunity. I only hope I can survive long enough to give you one."

Sakura nodded determinedly.

"You'll survive. Even if I have to heal every scratch myself, you will."

Kasei looked down at her for a moment, then smiled slightly.

"Caimaru, you got my back?"

The wolfhound, who had done little but circle until then, growled in acknowledgement and moved to his side. Kasei turned to face Sasori, arms relaxed at his side and blades held loosely.

"Are you ready, Puppet Master?"

Sasori laughed wickedly.

"Oh, I'm going to enjoy this. The question is, are _you _ready, boy? My puppets only wait for your attack."

"Then I will keep them waiting no longer."

He charged forwards, aiming for the closest puppet. Just as the creation raised its weapon to strike him, he stepped into its shadow and vanished. The puppet was then buried beneath Caimaru, who had leapt just as his master vanished. Kasei appeared in the midst of the puppets. Sasori jerked the animations in an attempt to reach him, but he slashed two apart, then flickered through the swarm, slashing at any open target. Sakura watched his movements in breathless fascination, even as she smashed a puppet that strayed too near her beyond repair. All Kasei's actions up until this moment had been covered by his cloak, which hid the subtle flow of his arms and legs. Uncovered, his actions could only be considered a dance, a whirling rhythm of flesh and steel. A puppet far to his left opened it's mouth and let loose a hail of kunai. Instead of dodging, the swordsman spun one blade, deflecting each projectile perfectly as his other hand simultaneously slashed another puppet to pieces. A series of explosive-tagged weapons soared at him, but he vanished again and the tags wiped out another dozen enemies apart. He reappeared behind Sakura, in the process wiping out another pair and causing her to spin around, startled.

"This is ridiculous. These things could stand in a line, and it would _still _take all day to get through them." He muttered as he surveyed the massed puppets.

"You don't have to take care of all of them. Just enough….you're hurt!" Sakura suddenly cried. Kasei looked down at the narrow slash.

"Huh, look at that. Guess I didn't block them all as well as I thought I did."

The medic kunoichi examined the cut closely.

"But it's poisoned! You have to let me…"

He cut her off with a wave of his hand.

"It's fine. Most poisons designed to use against ninja's attack the chakra system. I've slowed mine substantially, so I'll be fine for a while." He ducked suddenly, barely dodging the swing of a blade, then slashed at the attacker before Caimaru crushed it. "Get ready. I'll try to open up a path as soon as possible."

He leapt away before she could respond and plunged back into the mass. She watched him closely as he flickered back and forth, tearing apart the creations and slowly thinning their numbers. _Just a little more…_she thought. _A little more and I can…THERE! _She shot ahead through the small corridor made in the mass of puppets. Several rose to stop her, but she easily smashed them. As she passed Kasei she heard a thud behind her. Whirling, she saw an axe-wielding puppet collapse behind her, half its side blown away by an explosive note clearly seconds before it split her in two. Kasei paused to whip off another two, which shot behind her to obliterate the foes sneaking up on her. With a nod of thanks, she sped off again, barely acknowledging the small grunt of pain from his direction. Another puppet rose up, but she blasted it apart and then was at Sasori. His arms, reattached at some point, again rose to blast out fire, but Sakura dove beneath it and came up at his side. Without hesitation, she charged as much chakra as she could to her fists and smashed into him. Without a word, the puppeteer shattered. A cylinder arced out of his chest, driven by the force of the impact, but was intercepted in midair by a trio of kunai. Sakura looked to Kasei, who stood amidst the suddenly lifeless creations.

"His heart." He answered to the wordless question. "The one living part of him."

She nodded and he took a step in her direction before suddenly dropping to one knee, clutching his chest in pain. Sakura rushed over.

"What is it? The poison?"

"Not…poison…" he gasped. "I'm…fine. Let's go. The others…need us."

He tried to stand, but when his hand came away from his body, Sakura saw it was covered in blood."

"No, you're not!" she insisted. "Now lay down and let me see it."

Finally relenting, he lay back on the cool stone floor and let her unfasten his sword belts and cut away his tunic. She noted out of the corner of her eye that were was an tattoo on his arm identical to the kanji that had been on his armband, but a scar obscured. It was the wounds that made her gasp. When he had paused to attack the few puppets that were sneaking up on her, his attention on the immediate threat to himself had wavered. In that second, two of the puppets had struck home. A sword had gone straight through the right side of his chest, and another blade of some type had slashed the same side deeply. As quickly as she could, while trying to hold back tears, Sakura called green Shousen chakra to her hands and began healing the wounds. After several minutes she stopped, gasping with exertion.

"That's all I can do. I'm almost completely out of chakra. I'll bandage the outside but…you need serious attention at a hospital."

Kasei sat up slowly, wincing.

"It'll be fine for now." He said as she wound bandages around his torso. "I've had worse than this."

He pulled his tunic back on, though it was now cut fully open in the front, and refastened his swords but left his cloak where it lay.

"Now let's go. I can still fight a bit, and I imagine that Team Gai needs some assistance."


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6: Final Fight and the Kazekage 

Kasei and Sakura raced out of the cave and leapt to the trees while trying to contact Gai's team.

"Gai, Neji…anyone." Sakura called repeatedly over the portable headsets. "Someone come in."

"_This is Neji._" came a sudden voice over the channel. "_Have you finished with the Akatsuki?"_

"Kasei and I have, but we were separated from Naruto and Kakashi-sensei. I'm nearly out of chakra and Kasei's badly hurt, but we can give some assistance."

There was a short silence over the radio before Neji came back on, sounding slightly breathless.

"Lee finished early, some nonsense about the power of youth and alcohol." Kasei raised his eyebrow at this, but Sakura just shrugged at him, equally clueless. "He went to help Gai-sensei and the two of them seem to be having quite a grand time against Gai's clone. I can hold myself for the moment, though some assistance would help end this. We haven't heard from Tenten though. Someone should check on her."

"Alright, Neji. We're on our way."

Sakura closed the channel and looked over at Kasei.

"Who should we go after first?"

"I think we should separate." He said. "You head to Neji, Even if you're low on chakra, it sounds like even the smallest help could put things in his favor. Caimaru will follow you, just in case. I'll check on Tenten. With her help, I shouldn't have any problems against her clone, regardless of any injury."

Sakura nodded.

"Alright. Try to limit your movements, though, so you don't do any more damage to those wounds."

Kasei raised his eyebrow and glanced at her.

"Limit my movements against a weapon specialist who can probably put a dozen blades in the air before the first one hits. Good idea, I'll remember that."

"You know what I mean!" huffed Sakura angrily. Kasai just laughed.

"Yeah, yeah I know. Be careful against that Hyuuga. All he'll need is one hit to stop you."

"I know. See you soon."

The two leapt off in opposite directions, sprinting off to help their comrades.

Meanwhile, near the riverbed, Tenten herself was hard pressed. Whenever she fought, she had always relied on a fast series of attacks to quickly eliminate her opponent. Against her exact copy, however, the same tactics would hardly work, and her stamina was failing. Despite the action, her clone seemed as ready as ever. After a fast exchange, Tenten stumbled, now sporting a slash in her leg. She fell back against the stone wall of the gorge and her enemy moved in for the kill. A few meters away, it drew out a trio of shuriken and Tenten knew better than any that each would hit a vital place. With the new wound, she could hardly move fast enough to dodge. Her clone reared back and hurled the weapons. As they hurled towards her, she began to close her eyes, but a sharp _clang _snapped them open again. The three shuriken were pinned to the ground through the hole in their center by a kunai. Both the clone and original looked around in confusion, until someone suddenly dropped into a crouch a few feet in front of Tenten. She saw it was a boy about her age, long-haired and holding two ninja-to ready, one horizontally in front of him and the other out to the side. The clone threw another series of kunai and shuriken, which he deflected effortlessly. Tenten regained her balance and made her way to his side, keeping her gaze on the clone.

"Thanks, but who the hell are you?"

"You know me." He said simply.

The voice seemed familiar, but when she glanced over, she saw nothing she knew. _He's cuter than…than even Neji-kun! _she thought as she examined him. His face had two red fang tattoos under his eyes and his black tunic hung open, revealing a bandaged torso with faint bloodstains beginning to leak through.

"I truly don't, but you're hurt!"

"I'm fine, Sakura tended to it."

Tenten gasped.

"Kasei?"

"Right the first time, congratulations. Now lets finish the introductions after we deal with this thing, sound good?"

She nodded and looked back at the clone, which had drawn a katana to counter the new arrival's ninja-tos. Kasei let out a short laugh.

"A sword. Wrong move, copy-girl."

Tenten attempted to warn him away.

"Kasei, I've been training with blades my entire life. I'd be careful of her…"

But the boy just leapt at the duplicate and they met in a clang of steel. Tenten's warning caught in her throat as she watched herself attempt to parry, failing, and only barely avoiding the strike. A scissors-like cut from both blades forced the clone to fall back out of the way, stumbling clumsily. Tenten hurriedly pulled various throwing weapons from her large scroll and let fly. Off balance, it somehow managed to avoid the blades, but the stumbling dodge sent it straight into Kasei, who had stepped through a shadow to appear just behind. The clone managed to block two and avoid one of his lightning fast strikes, but in the ensuing flurry, those three hardly mattered. The clone wavered from the dozen wounds, then melted back into the water it had formed from. Kasei spun his blades once to dry them, then swept them back across his back before bending forwards, hands on his knees and breathing heavily. Tenten rushed up behind him.

"That was amazing! I've never seen swordplay like that. Who trained…" She stopped when she came around in front of him. The bandages around his chest were now dark red in two places, with the stain slowly spreading.

"You said you were fine!" she began chastising as she tried to help him. "You need to get to a hospital."  
"I'm fine." He growled. "We can finish this."

He straightened and looked at her. She looked up at his face and saw the pain that he was fighting to hide, but decided to let it go.

"Alright. Neji's in that direction."

"Sakura and Caimaru went to help him, but we should go meet up with them."

They started off towards their companions. After a few minutes, they reached a clearing just in time to see Sakura's fist smash into what appeared to be Neji's chest. The Hyuuga flew back and through several trees before coming to a rest. Another Neji suddenly appeared in front of the first, his hands flying impossibly fast to strike the downed boy. Before it could even stand, the clone melted into mud. Kasei and Tenten dropped down next to Sakura.

"Good job."

She jumped in surprise at their appearance, then turned to face them with a smile. A smile that quickly faded at Kasei's appearance.

"I told you not to strain yourself!" she criticized while beginning to unwrap the bandages without even asking first.

"And I said there wouldn't a chance of that. And I was right. This girl here can be quite a handful apparently." He replied, offering a nod and a small smile to Tenten, who smiled back and blushed faintly. Neji then walked up to the three alongside Caimaru and offered a nod to Kasei.

"Than you for sending Sakura after me. I do not know how much longer I could have held out. And Caimaru as well. I realize how important he is to you, and he was a valuable ally."

Caimaru sniffed at Neji and licked his hand, then wandered over to Kasei and whined worriedly.

"I'll be fine. Don't worry about it" the wounded ninja said to his dog.

"You won't be fine if you keep going at this rate." Interjected Sakura as she pulled away the last of the bandages. Even Neji gasped at the injuries beneath. The two puncture wounds were obvious against Kasei's chest and blood leaked freely from each of them. Tenten felt her eyes begin to tear at the sight.

"You shouldn't have come after me. I shouldn't have let you…"

Kasei let out a short laugh as Sakura began to rebandage him.

"I didn't give you a choice. I wasn't about to let a few scrapes stop me from getting you out of that."

While Tenten blushed again, Neji examined him through the Byakugan.

"Kasei, that's more than a few scrapes. That first one missed your heart by less than two inches, and the second is no flesh wound either."

As Sakura finished, Kasei straightened, holding back a wince.

"We shouldn't get into much more trouble before we get to Suna. I can last until then."

"What about the poison, Kasei? How much longer can you keep it slowed?"

"That's not a problem. It's nowhere anything vital yet."

Seeing the debate was useless, and not seeing any other alternative, the Leaf ninja set off again, racing down the gorge to meet their two companions and hopefully the Kazekage. Several miles later, a massive explosion off in the forest suddenly stopped them. Changing course, they soon came to a clearing, which had clearly been made by the blast. The crackling of twigs from a few meters outside drew their attention. Kakashi stood there weakly, leaning heavily against a tree.

"Naruto's…there." He gasped out, pointing off into the trees. "Deidara…exploded. Kyuubi tried to escape."

He began to collapse, but Gai suddenly appeared from nowhere and caught him.

"He's overexerted himself." The jounin said, temporarily serious. Lee's arrival destroyed this persona though.

"You are a mighty foe, Gai-sensei!" he roared. "Even against yourself!"

With Kakashi over one shoulder, Gai struck his patented "nice guy" pose.

"Yes, but with your youthfulness on our side, we could not fail!"

Neji shook his head at the two.

"There'll be time for that later. Let's find Gaara and Naruto."

The group spread out to search, and a short time later found Gaara's inert body hanging from a tree branch and Naruto near by, unconscious with a chakra-suppressing seal on his forehead. After they peeled the seal off, he quickly woke up and began spouting off.

"Where's Gaara? Is he okay? What happened?"

"Shut up, baka!" yelled Sakura who was examining Gaara. She ran her hands over his torso and concentrated on his chest, getting readings on his energy.

"I'm afraid this isn't good. The ritual drained most of both him and the Ichibi. It's amazing that he's still alive and…well he won't last much longer."

"No!" cried Naruto. "You're a medic, Sakura! Can't you do anything?"

"There is a technique that I could use to substitute chakra for his life force until it recovers but…it requires massive amounts of chakra. In my state, I don't have nearly enough."

"Then use mine." Volunteered Naruto immediately.

Sakura put a hand on his chest and closed her eyes, then shook her head.

"You don't have enough either. The Kyuubi really took it out of you. After that fight…I don't think anyone has enough."

There was a moment of silence, then Kasai stepped forwards.

"I do."

"There's no way you can." Argued Sakura. "Not after everything that you've done."

"No. I use next to no chakra for physical movement, and I only used a few jutsus, mostly the Shadow Shift, which uses very little chakra if done correctly. I told you before, Sakura, my chakra flow is considerably slower than anyone's here."  
Neji nodded, but Sakura offered one more argument.

"But if you let it flow freely enough to let me use it, the poison's rate will speed up. If not for the slowing, you'd be almost dead by now. I won't let you. You might die!"

Kasei shrugged.

"But I might not." He closed his eyes for a moment in concentration and suddenly everyone could sense his chakra, which was indeed as strong as a fully rested nin. "There. I've returned my flow rate to normal, so the poison's already at work. Use it, or this will be pointless." His voice lowered to barely a whisper. "The Sand needs him more than anyone needs me. Do it."

Blinking back a tear, Sakura kneeled beside Gaara and put her hands out over him. Kasei's hands hovered over hers and began to glow blue with chakra. The glow suddenly began to drain at an alarming rate through Sakura's hands and into Gaara. Everyone could see the expression of pain on Kasei's face as the poison began to take effect, but he did not waver until Sakura finally lifted his hands away. He then fell back, his chest heaving with exertion and waves of pain coursing through his body. Gaara, however, suddenly coughed loudly and began to sit up. Naruto rushed to his side, helping him to his feet.

"How do you feel? Are you alright?"

Gaara let out another cough.

"I'm fine. Wha-what are you doing here?"

"The Sand sent out a call for help when you were taken. Konoha could do nothing less than send their best to answer."

"And him?" Gaara's gaze turned to Kasei, who was still sitting on the ground.

"A ninja of the Hidden Past," Gaara's eyes widened, "who has recently joined Konoha."

Kasei struggled to his feet.

"A pleasure, Kazekage. We'll return to Suna when you're ready to travel."

"No!" cut in Sakura. "We'll leave now, otherwise you'll be dead before we get there. Naruto can help Gaara and I can help you."

"Alright. But I can travel just fine, I've slowed my chakra again and I can last a little longer. Let's go."

Before any could argue, he leapt off along with Caimaru and the others were forced to follow.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7: Homecoming 

Nearly a solid day of travel brought them to the gates of the Hidden Sand. As they came into view, a low roar was heard from the gates. Walking closer, they soon discovered it was applause and cheering. The walls of Suna were lined with its citizens, ninja and civilian alike. Shouts of _Gaara! _and _Kazekage!_ could be heard as the people came pouring out to meet the rescue party. Kasei looked to Gaara, but the Sand leader's expression was one of confusion. As he realized that the cheers were of love and happiness, a small smile slowly formed on his face and Kasei swore he glimpsed the glint of a tear, though it quickly vanished. Naruto helped him walk to the gate, where a Sand nin with a half covered face waited along side a young man and a strikingly beautiful young woman, apparently sister to the young man. The oldest of the trio bowed as Gaara approached.

"Welcome back, Kazekage."

"It is good to be back, my friend." Said Gaara, his monotonous voice hiding overwhelming emotion.

The other two rushed to Gaara, both pulling him into a hug despite his glare. When they broke away, Sakura walked up to the blonde girl and began talking quickly as Kasei watched them, unable to take his eyes off the woman. A few times both of them looked up at Kasei, then suddenly stopped talking. The girl made her way over to Kasei and offered a short bow.

"My name is Temari. Kankuro over there and I are Gaara's older siblings. Sakura tells me we owe you a great deal for saving him."

"I did no more than anyone else." Said Kasei, returning the bow, albeit painfully due to his wounds.

"Sakura seems to believe differently, and is going to tell me more later on. Most importantly, she says you almost died helping him. That's a great deal more than nothing."

Kasei's vision began to swim and he wavered on his feet.

"I'm still dying," he whispered weakly to no one in particular, before collapsing. Dimly, he heard Temari shouting for medics before darkness took over.

When he awoke, Kasei was lying in a white-sheeted bed in an empty room. He tried to sit up, but winced and fell back, holding his stomach. Just then, the door to the room opened and a Sand medic walked in holding a clipboard.

"Oh good, you're awake."

"Apparently." Said Kasei. "How long was I out?"

"A few days. The girl Sakura herself managed to remove the poison from your system and neutralized it. The damage caused by the two stab wounds was…extensive. Sakura managed to heal the worst of it back when you received them, but you're movement since then reopened a great deal of it. Despite that, we've managed to heal up everything nicely. You'll feel some pain from the wounds for a few more days, but that will pass." The medic looked up from his notes. "All in all, you're very lucky to be alive. None of your companions had injuries anywhere near what you sustained."

Kasei let out a small laugh, though the motion hurt his chest.

"I've always had a weird sort of luck. Good to see it held up."

"Also, despite it being nearly midnight, you have a visitor. Normally she wouldn't be allowed in, but…well she has friends in high places. She's been sitting out there for two days straight without sleep waiting for you."

He walked out, and a second later Temari entered the room, much to Kasei's surprise. He waited until she sat down in a chair before raising an eyebrow.

"Friends in high places?"

The blonde smiled slightly.

"It doesn't get much higher than the Kazekage, and Gaara was more than willing to let me in."

"Still seems like a bit of trouble to see someone you've exchanged maybe six sentences with in your life."

This time Temari manage a laugh.

"You're a bit more important than most strangers. As I said before, I owe you a great deal for my brothers life."

Kasei stared up at the ceiling.

"You owe me nothing. I told you, I did no more than anyone else."

"I heard the full story a couple days ago from Sakura. You pushed yourself to the limit for Gaara, don't deny it!"

"It wasn't that much…"

"One hundred puppets?! All controlled by the Sand's legendary puppet master Sasori? You took them on nearly single handedly!"

"Sakura and my dog helped. And I was nearly killed by them."

Temari stood up so he was forced to look at her.

"Only because you paused to help Sakura. There's no shame in that injury. And what about your decision to help Gaara? No one would have thought less of you if you had chosen to keep yourself alive by restricting your chakra instead of giving it to Gaara."

"I knew what I was doing." Muttered Kasei. "I knew the whole time."

She sat down next to him on the bed, but leaned over so her face was near his.

"No, you didn't. Sakura told me what you said before you charged those puppets. You expected to die." There were now tears in Temari's eyes. "And if Sakura had been a minute later, you would have. You were ready to die, just to hold off Sasori long enough to keep him away from my brother."

Kasei had no way to refute that and just stared at the girl, his face a mix of emotions as she continued.

"Ever since he met Naruto, Gaara has started trying to protect people and gain acceptance. When he was made Kazekage, he found himself in a position where it was his duty to protect and he was respected by the entire village, if not loved. The Akatsuki managed to take him because he used the last of his strength to save the village. It took that disaster to make people see him truly, and now his name is cheered in the streets. The last few night's…I've had horrible nightmares about what they did to him. I waited here for you because I was afraid to sleep. Thank you…thank you for saving him and bringing him back to where he belongs…for saving my little brother."

A tear dripped from Temari's face onto Kasei, but instead of wiping it away, he reached up and pulled her into a hug, ignoring the twinges of pain. She buried her face into his shoulder, crying openly. The two simply lay there until her sobs slowly subsided and her breathing evened as she drifted to sleep. Kasei lay awake, staring into the darkness until, for the first time in years, he drifted to sleep and stayed that way through the night.

He was awakened by a loud shout, which he now recognized easily. Cracking open one eye, he saw Naruto standing over the bed with his hands on his hips.

"What are you doing?" he roared.

Temari stirred next to Kasei, so he unwound his arms from around her and sat up, rubbing his eyes.

"I _was _sleeping, oddly enough. I don't do it much, but you don't know that, so what the hell are you talking about?"

Naruto sputtered as Temari sat up as well and looked around, briefly confused as to where she was.

"I…you…what…she…"

Sakura, who had been standing back by the door and laughing silently stepped in to translate.

"He's wondering why Temari seems to have spent the night in your room, though he's as inarticulate as always."

Kasei looked over at Temari, who was now blushing lightly.

"I just wanted to talk to him. I couldn't sleep so came in last night when he woke up and I guess I just fell asleep."

"HAH! A likely excuse!" roared Naruto. "Then why were you in bed with him and his arms were around you, eh?! When Kankuro hears about this…"  
He suddenly shut up as a shuriken buried itself into the wall next to him. Kasei, the thrower, gave Naruto the most terrifying glare any of the others had ever seen.

"If I even hear a _hint _that you've been spreading rumors about Temari around, no one will _ever _find your remains, understand?"

Naruto, who had been stuck dumb with terror, managed a nod. The room was deathly quiet for a moment until Sakura suddenly broke the silence.

"Umm, Kasei…were did you get that shuriken? All your weapons are over here…"

Kasei smiled sheepishly.

"Well, Temari had some, so I just decided to borrow…"

Temari gasped and her hand flew to the hidden shuriken pouch beneath her sash.

"How did you get that? I didn't even feel you take it."

Now he grinned openly and shrugged.

"Ninja." Was the only response he offered, and the young ninja all laughed (except for Naruto, who was still wide-eyed and shaking in fear).

"Well anyway," Sakura began. "we came to visit, and also to tell you that you're free to leave. Just go easy for a while. And _actually _go easy this time. Last time I told you that, you went out and made it even worse."

Kasei laughed again, then began to stand. Naruto, seeing him move, suddenly regained control of himself and bolted from the room. With a grin, Kasei stood up fully and looked down at himself.

"Can I take these bandages off?"

Sakura nodded.

"Sure. The external wound has closed completely. The only thing left to heal is internal, and that's minor."

Kasei gratefully unwound the bandages. Beneath them were two scars near his heart and stomach. With a shrug, he started across the room towards the rest of his clothes. Halfway there, Sakura spoke up.

"I've been meaning to ask you since I first saw it in the cavern. What's that tattoo?"

Kasei looked down at his arm, an unreadable expression on his face.

"It means myth, and it's given to all the ninja of the Past, once they pass the trials and become full ninja. It's similar to your headbands, used to identify each ninja's village."

"But where did that scar through it come from?"

Kasei was silent for a moment, then began to pull on his black tunic (tears fully repaired).

"I was given it when they killed my parents. I was beaten and thrown out, told that I was never really one of them and I should never return, under pain of death."

"How could they do that?" asked Temari, shocked. "What did your parents do?"

"Nothing." Said Kasei, anger creeping into his voice. "They were found teaching me jutsus, which were forbidden in the Past, and so were executed. Personally, I think the ninja were looking for an excuse to eliminate them for a long time."

"What for?"

"My parents weren't from the Past. And they….dislike outsiders. They consider jutsu users weak."

"Then why did your parents come to the Hidden Past anyway? Didn't they know it was dangerous?" asked Sakura, moving to comfort Kasei, but he moved away.

"They were banished from their native village. Disowned by their separate clans for being together."

"Where…where were they from before?" pressed Sakura, though she feared she knew the answer.

Kasei was silent, then threw up the hood of his cloak, hiding his face, and spoke one word before vanishing into the shadows.

"_Konoha."_

Hours later, Kasei stood alone on a far wall of the Hidden Sand, deep in thought. There was a storm building and the wind whipped around him wildly, carrying sting sand, but he remained motionless and silent, with his hood up and cloak pulled tightly around him as protection. He only stirred when a footstep on the wall nearby alerted him to another person's presence. He turned to see the young man, Kankuro, standing in a black outfit complete a hood that formed earlike shapes above his head. His face was decorated in a distinctive design.

"I've been told that you saved my brothers life out there. I suppose I owe you for that."

Kasei shook his head and began to turn away.

"I merely did what was necessary. No thanks are needed."

"No, not any more they're not."

Something in then Sand nin's voice made him turn back, and saw that beside Kankuro stood two large puppets, one lizard-like one, and the other vaguely human with blades coming out of its arms.

"No thanks should even be given, after last night." He continued in a growl. "I am grateful to you for my brother, but nothing can excuse you taking advantage of my sister!"

Kasei sighed.

"I suppose Naruto told you that?"

Kankuro grinned wickedly.

"Indirectly. I heard him shouting from the lobby of the hospital while I was looking for her. By the time I got there, you were gone.

"He was jumping to conclusions, you know." Kasei attempted to explain.

"Like I'll believe anything from you!" roared the puppeteer. "I'll kill you!"

The humanoid puppet lunged forwards with a blade, but Kasei easily leapt back out of range. The follow-up swing was also evaded, but Kasei suddenly found himself locked inside a large wooden chamber. Kankuro's laughed from outside the chamber.

"This is my third puppet, Kuroari. This fight is over."

Following his commands, the human puppet's arms and legs detached, revealing longer blades. The limbs soared forwards and sunk through slits in the trap-puppet, designed to allow the first puppet to skewer anyone inside.

"You were not as difficult as I was led to believe. I cannot understand how you defeated Sasori."

"That's funny." Kankuro spun in disbelief at the voice behind him. "Usually one tends to say something like that when their opponent's dead."

Kasei stood leaning against the wall, completely unworried. Kankuro looked from him, them back to the puppet, then back to him.

"That's not…how did you…"

"You can't imprison me in the dark, Kankuro. I _own _the dark. Leave now. I understand your mistake, but this is just foolish. It is only for Temari's sake that I haven't killed you already. I hardly think Gaara would mind."

Kankuro growled.

"Whatever. You won't get away again!"

The weaponry puppet, now reassembled, came soaring back towards Kasei. Before it could come within range, however, a powerful gust of wind blew it off course.

"Stop it, Kankuro!" Temari yelled from a building below them. She then leapt up to the wall, folding her fan in the process and stowing it in her sash. "He saved our brother's life and deserves our gratitude. You have no right to treat him like this!"

"Oh. I see. He deserves gratitude." Hissed Kankuro. "So you gave him a good fuck as thanks. I see what's going on."

Anger and shock that her brother could think such a thing crossed her features.

"We didn't do anything! We were just talking and I fell asleep."

Kankuro looked back and forth between the two, confused.

"But Naruto said…"

"Naruto's an idiot who doesn't pay attention to anything before making up his mind." Interjected Temari. "Now get out of here before I save Kasei the trouble of shutting you up."

The puppeteer stood for a moment, then called his puppets back to their scrolls and leapt away. As he vanished, Kasei again turned to look outside the city, facing the sunset. Temari came up behind him.

"Sorry about him. And about all this…maybe staying last night wasn't such a good idea."

Kasei shook his head.

"It's no problem. He's just protective, nothing wrong with that. You needed the rest last night, so I wasn't about to send you away. Besides, "he glanced over at her. "to be honest, that was the first full night's sleep I've had in a long time, and I believe I have you to thank for that."

Temari blushed slightly.

"I don't see how I helped you. You helped me relax…somehow drove away my dreams. I probably kept you awake lying on top of you." She said with a slight smile.

Kasei laughed.

"You're not that heavy. And you did the same thing for me, you helped me relax. I'm not really sure how, but usually I think too much to sleep, and you pushed it all away."

"Well…you're welcome, I guess." Said Temari, still confused.

Kasei just nodded and turned back to the sunset. She stood next to him quietly for a long time before speaking again.

"I've been looking for you. Why did you leave?"

Kasei paused, then looked down and spoke quietly.

"My history is…painful. I dislike recounting it. I left so I could calm down a bit."

Temari stepped in close to him and leaned her head on his shoulder.

"I don't care if you're a ninja of the Past, Leaf, or anything. You deserve far better then how you were treated. You have a right to be hurt…it's nothing to be ashamed of."

Kasei closed his eyes for a moment, then raised his head back to the horizon and slipped his arm around Temari.

"Thank you."

The pair watched the last rays of light slowly fade and the stars appear in the sky. After what seemed like hours, Kasei stirred slightly. Temari, who had been dozing on his shoulder, started up.

"It's getting late." He said softly to her. "You should head home."

She looked over at him with an eyebrow raised.

"Are you trying to get rid of me?"  
Kasei laughed at that.

"Hardly. I just don't want you brother any more mad then he is."

"Well in that case, come with me. Gaara, Kankuro and I live in the Hokage tower, and I happen to know that you and the other Konoha ninja have been given special guest suites there. That way no one will wonder where you are either."

Kasei groaned in mock despair as she took his hand and led him off.

"Wonderful. Now Naruto will see me coming in with you. If _that _doesn't set him off, I don't know what will."

Temari giggled, but didn't relent. Soon they reached the large building in the center of the village and the guards let them in instantly upon seeing the Kazekage's sister. She led him upstairs and through a series of corridors before stopping in front of an unmarked door.

"This is your room. I'm another floor up."

He nodded.

"Thank you. Goodnight, then."

She looked up at him for a moment, then stood on tiptoe and kissed him on the cheek swiftly. "Goodnight." Then she turned and darted away, embarrassed.

Kasei watched her go with an expression between surprise and a smile, then snapped out of it. Entering the room, he hung his cloak on a hook and removed his weapons, then set them out on a low table. He kicked off his shoes and pulled off his shirt before falling back on the bed, ready for another restless night. Twirling a kunai idly between his fingers, he gazed out the window.

No more than two hours later, the door slowly began to open. A figure slipped in and then shut the door. Kasei sat up quickly, and in the soft moonlight he could see Temari, standing in a thin shift and looking scared.

"What's wrong?"  
She slowly walked towards him.

"…another dream…Gaara and the Ichibi…the Akatsuki after him again. I can't sleep." She sat down on his bed. "Can I stay here?"

"As long as you don't care what your brother and Naruto think." He said, putting down the kunai and pushing back the covers to allow her in. She crawled up next to him.

"They can think what they want. If it gets too bad, I'll straighten them out. I also give you permission to hit Kankuro."

Kasei laughed as she settled down next to him.

"In that case, make yourself at home."

He began to roll away to give her room on the bed, but was stopped by her arms around him.

"Please…" she whispered, her voice no longer joking, but small again. "Just...hold me. Don't go."

Gently, Kasei slid his arms around the girl and held her close to him. She melted against his warm body and was soon asleep, leaving him to his thoughts. Soon, he to fell asleep, again strangely soothed by the presence of the Sand kunoichi.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8: Training Among Friends 

Kasei was rudely awakened for the second night in a row, this time by a loud banging on the door, followed by a loud bellow.

"What did you do with my sister?!" yelled Kankuro. "I know you're in there! Where is she?"

With a groan, Kasei untangled himself from Temari and answered the door.

"Maybe I was better off not sleeping, if this is how I have to get up every morning." He complained, then looked up at Kankuro. "What the hell do you want?"

"Where's my sister?" he roared. "She's not in her room, and I know you did something with her!"

As if on cue, Temari appeared from behind Kasei, still in her shift, and leaned into Kasei's chest while sliding her arm's around him.

"He didn't do anything with me. I came in here last night when I couldn't sleep."

Kankuro glared angrily.

"It sure doesn't _look _like you didn't do anything. You slept in the same bed as him wearing that little thing? Are you even wearing anything underneath it?"

Temari broke away from Kasei and slammed her fist into Kankuro's gut before he could react.

"It's none of your damn business what I'm wearing! You're lucky I'm not _naked _with him!"

Kankuro's eyes widened and he choked over his reply.

"Besides," added Kasei, who was now leaning casually against the doorframe with his arms crossed, "she told me I'm allowed to hit you."

Kankuro raced away before his temperamental sister and the Konoha nin could get their hands on him again. Temari ducked back into the room and slammed the door behind her, then doubled over laughing.

"Hahaha…did you see…what?" she asked. Kasei was looking at her with an eyebrow raised and a curious expression.

"He's lucky you're not _naked _in here?"

Temari blushed, then hit him in the arm.

"It was the first thing I thought of to say to him that would shut him up! You know what I meant!"

Kasei laughed, holding his arm.

"Okay, okay, I know what you meant. I just can't wait to see his expression when we get downstairs."

She grinned at the thought, but then looked down at herself.

"You know, he was _somewhat _right. This isn't exactly decent for everyday wear. Maybe I should go change before breakfast."

"Good idea. Perhaps I'll put on a shirt. Don't want to give their little imaginations _too _much to work with."

Temari giggled and nodded.

"I'll see you downstairs then." She said, then walked out the door. Kasei pretended not to watch the thin slip she wore ride up over her ass, but couldn't help but feel a twinge of disappointment when the door closed behind her. Tearing his thoughts away, he busied himself preparing for the day. After pulling on a clean tunic, he opted to forgo the heavy cloak for the day, as it was only useful for traveling or when stealth was imperative. It didn't hurt for scaring people in either. Then he considered his selection of weapons. Since he knew they would not be departing for Konoha for at least another few days, since Sakura's medical knowledge was still needed to tend to Gaara, he chose to wear only one sword, strapped over his left shoulder. He left his kunai holster behind, though he hid a pair in a sheath up his sleeve, along with a series of senbon. His everyday belt held many pouches, some of which held shuriken, others some different useful things. The armor for his arms and legs wasn't even considered, and he stowed them in a drawer alongside his cloak. Feeling curiously light missing half of his usual equipment, Kasei made his way down the stairs. After several minutes of confused wandering, he finally found the dining hall reserved for the Kazekage and his guests. Most of the Konoha troupe was already seated, along with Kankuro and Gaara at the head of the table. They all waved and called out greetings, while offering seats to him. By some misfortune, he found himself between Lee and Kasei, and so was barraged by a mixture of jealousy-induced hatred and hero worship as soon as he sat down.

"So, Kasei. Have a good night?" asked Naruto, trying to put as much venom as possible into his words.

Kasei, not at all phased, bit into his food.

"I actually slept again, though I doubt you care. So, better than usual."

Naruto smirked.

"Kankuro told me it was better than that. Though, according to him, I hardly think you actually slept. Have some fun with a blonde girl?"

Kasei's idle backhand sent Naruto out of his chair and into the far wall, leaving a small crater where he impacted. Most of the table failed to react, as someone hit Naruto all to frequently to warrant notice. Kankuro, however, paled noticeably beneath his makeup. He was staring at both Kasei, and off behind him. Following his look, Kasei saw that Naruto had landed at the feet of a certain young woman, who looked down at the unconscious boy, then stepped over him with care and took his unoccupied seat.

"Something he said?" Temari asked, while pushing aside Naruto's plate and taking a clean one.

"Oh, just the same babble of nonsense. I hardly heard what it was, but Kankuro was laughing, so I decided it must be worth hitting him over."

Temari looked up to glare at her brother, but he had already bolted out the door.

"Oh well. I'm sure he deserved it."

At this moment, Lee decided to enter the conversation.

"He definitely did! He was making very impolite inquiries about how you and Kasei-san spent the night. As if it is his business to know how you spend your time in your Springtime of Youth!"

Both Kasei and Temari looked at Lee's grinning face blankly for a moment.

"Somehow that made it sound even worse…" muttered Kasei, jabbing at his food. Temari just giggled.

"Anyway, I have a request." Continued Lee. "Before leaving Konoha, you promised to assist me in any way you could." At this, Kasei groaned inwardly, beginning to regret the statement. "I was hoping that you would assist me in training today."

"I don't know how much I can do. " said Kasei, looking for a way out. "You're a masterful taijutsu user already, so I'm told."

"You underestimate yourself, friend." Said Neji from across the table. "I would also ask you to assist me in training today. One hundred puppets is no small feat."

"Why do I get the feeling that's gonna haunt me forever…" muttered Kasei under his breath, then spoke up louder. "But I'm a _swordsman. _I specialize in weapons!"

"Mastery of weapons comes from mastery of your body's movements." Piped up Tenten from next to Neji. "The styles are different, but the same basic principles. If you can teach them to move better, you can help them fight. And," she looked down, embarrassed. "if you could, I wouldn't mind some tips myself. My clone's fighting against you showed me how deficient my swordsmanship is."

Kasei shook his head.

"It's not bad…" he sighed and shook his head, seeing that he had lost. "Alright. I'll meet you outside after breakfast."

He slumped back in defeat. Next to him, Temari could only laugh.

"Hmm, maybe I'll tag along to this little class too."

Kasei let out a groan of frustration and slammed his hands on the table.

"Does anyone ELSE want to show up and put me through even more trouble?"

Simultaneously, Sakura, Gaara, and even Gai raised their hands. Kakashi was still in the hospital, or else Kasei felt sure that he would have also joined in.

Dejectedly, he rose and stalked out of the room, leaving behind gales of laughter.

A half hour later saw the Konoha ninja and their two Sand companions standing on the roof of the Kage tower. Kasei, still in the same attire, showed up a few minutes later.

"So you're really gonna make me do this?" he sighed dejectedly.

"Of course!" roared Lee, and the others were not far behind him.

He shook his head.

"Alright, I'm going to do this a group at a time. Those of you who prefer unarmed combat, in one group. Those with weapons, in another. Gaara!"

The Sand Kazekage, who had been heading for the unarmed group, stopped and looked up.

"I want you to stay with the weapon users. I have an idea for you."

Unquestioningly, Gaara turned around and headed back. Kasei then moved towards the unarmed group.

"Alright, taijutsu users. I'm going to show you a new stance." He held up a hand to stem protests. "This will work for both the Gentle and Strong fist style users." Still grumbling, they imitated his oddly relaxed stance, with legs spread. "Now, the ninja of the Past have extensively studied the specific effects of every movement possible in combat. This stance was created to be something like an ultimate defense against weapon specialists and taijutsu users."

"Kasei, it does not seem possible for this to be an ultimate defense. Any simple attack can strike you with little effort." Said Neji.

"Is that so? Lee, come here."

The jumpsuit-clad boy leapt to attention.

"Hai!"

He moved over and stood in front of Kasei, who nodded.

"Alright, now attack me. Everyone else, watch me."

Lee threw a slow punch, but Kasei simply caught it, twisted Lee's arm over and threw him with little effort.

"I said _attack _me, Lee. Use everything you have."

"Hai!" yelled Lee, then charged. He flew at Kasei with a flurry of punches, kicks, and combinations. Kasei, however, remained impassive. He simply wove back and forth in the same place, ducking and dodging every strike. Finally, after several minutes, he called for a halt and Lee stepped back, gasping for breath.

"Now," said Kasei to the other ninja. "what did I do?"

"You defied every principle about evasive action I have ever heard." Spoke up Gai. "You did not move your feet an inch. I have always taught and been told that your ability to dodge is in your feet."

"That is actually correct, but misinterpreted. This stance is perfectly balanced, all body weight distributed equally over your feet. A firm placement of your feet allows you to move in any direction without shifting your feet. With this, any single point attack, such as a punch or knife, or even several knives, can be dodged with no effort."

Sakura stood in the position she was shown and attempted to punch an imaginary opponent without shifting her feet, but nearly overbalanced entirely.

"The defense is good, but I can't seem to attack at all."

Kasei nodded in agreement.

"That is the weakness of this stance. While a perfect defense against a non-ninjutsu attack, it does not allow the user to strike back with any weight. Neji, weight in a strike has no bearing on Juuken attacks, others may find it difficult."

"So what do we do?" asked Lee, when it seemed that no explanation was forthcoming.

"Shift stance." Said Kasei simply. "This is a defensive stance, and not meant to be used for attack. Balance and power notwithstanding, effective attacks require striking from different angles, which you can hardly do with this stance." He turned back to Neji. "You, however, should practice even attacking with this. The combination of your Juuken along with a perfect defense could make you an unbeatable taijutsu user. Even if a larger attack should come, you can easily use your Kaiten defense to deflect it. This will allow you to avoid smaller attacks with equal effectiveness, but far less chakra."

Kasei began to walk away, calling over his shoulder.

"Practice that, all of you. It's a perfect defense, but it also easily lets you move to other stances. The balance can be incorporated into all aspects of combat."

The ninja bowed to his retreating back, then turned to each other to practice. Meanwhile, Kasei moved onto the weapon users.

"Alright. So Gaara, I suppose you're wondering why I asked you to stay here?"

The Kazekage nodded.

"I never carry a weapon. I don't need the extra weight to add onto the sand gourd."

"Yes, you never _carry _a weapon, but can you _make _a weapon? I know you lost a great deal of your power when most of the Ichibi was taken, but do you have enough control to form a sword or something?"

Without hesitation, Gaara called a cloud of sand to hand, which quickly settled into a straight sword.

"The part of the Ichibi left to me was his hand." Explained Gaara. "So I still retain most of the fine control over the sand, though not as much raw power that the body gave me."

"That's good enough, though. Now, I'm assuming you can form a second?" Another sand blade appeared in Gaara's other hand. "Good. Now bear with me here, this is an idea I've had ever since I've heard about your power over sand, and now that you've lost some of the power, it seems even better. Take the second blade, and make it hover in the air a few feet in front of you. Now, can you link the first blade to the second somehow, so they will mimic the movements of each other?" Gaara, beginning to see what Kasei had in mind, used fine chakra strands, much like a puppeteers, to connect the blades.

"So what you're trying to do is give him the ability to fight with a sword from a safe distance?" guessed Temari. Kasei nodded.

"Exactly. Holding the first sword, he can send the second out after someone a distance away. Using the first as a reference, he can guide the second as if he were holding it to attack someone."

Gaara experimentally sent out the second blade several meters away to a wall. He hacked and slashed at thin air with the first blade, but the second imitated each movement precisely and gouged long slashes into the wall.

"Hmm…" mused Gaara. "This is a good idea. Offensive power with far less chakra use than my usual tactics, and still long range."

"Right." Agreed Kasei. "And that's why I wanted you over here, to learn how to use a sword. Even if you can still attack from a distance, learning swordsmanship is good for two reasons. Your attacks will be far more effective if you know what you're doing, and if anyone gets close, you won't have to rely entirely on that involuntary sand shield to stop them. Now Tenten, come here. Gaara, you won't need that second sword for a while." The kunoichi made her way over and Gaara dispersed the second blade. "Now Tenten, what kind of sword did you learn to fight with?"

She slowly began to turn red and looked at her feet.

"Umm...I never learned." She said softly. "I just used what I knew what I knew about other weapons and transferred it…"

"Well, in that case, you aren't doing badly. But you need to learn. Now, you have a katana in that scroll, right?" Tenten nodded and withdrew a single edged, curved blade. "Gaara, can you make that blade into the same type?" The sand shifted to mimic the katana. "Good, now I'm going to instruct you with the katana because, of the two-handed blades I know, I consider it by far the most deadly if properly used. I don't carry one because…well, I never got the flow down as well as with short swords. Now take an even stance, like the one I showed the other group. A defensive stance is the first step to an effective offense, as I'm sure you know Tenten. Now hold the blade point angled forwards out in front of you. This is the basic stance for using a katana. Gaara, if you use that ranged technique, a stance won't be so important, but it's good to know for close-in work. Now, the key part of the katana is the top third of the blade. The effectiveness of a cut is not from the weight of the blow, but from the speed. Tenten, when your clone used this blade, it was wielding it with the entire blade. I want you to focus on moving the upper third. The rest will follow, obviously, but it will be behind the tip, increasing the speed of your swing."

The two students held their blades out then swung evenly, each keeping their eyes on the tip of the blade.

"Good." Congratulated Kasei. "Now practice slow strokes against each other. We can work on footwork later on.

He left the two to practice and moved over to Temari, who was watching from a short distance off.

"How am I doing?"

She faced him with a smile.

"I think you could start teaching in the ninja school pretty soon!"

Kasei glared at her.

"Like I'd _ever _do that. All those little kids running around…" he slumped to the ground.

"Don't forget, Kasei-sensei, you've still got another student to work with."  
Kasei gave her another glare for the -sensei title, but climbed back to his feet.

"Well, what do you want to know?"

"I'm really a ranged ninjutsu type, but I use my fan for it. That's technically a weapon, so I stayed in the weaponry group."

"Let me see your fan."

She passed over the folded device over and he examined it.

"Is this casing fairly strong?"

"As strong as any sword. I've stopped blades with that thing."

"Good." Kasei handed it back. "Because that's exactly what you'll learn to do. Tenten!" he called over, interrupting her and Gaara's practice. "Do you have a stave of some sort I can borrow?"

The weapon mistress withdrew a simple wooden staff from her scroll and tossed it to him before turning back to practice. Kasei faced Temari with the staff.

"Okay. That fan is long enough to be used as a short staff. It's too wide to get your hands around, but it will work. Now, hold the fan closed like I'm holding the staff." Temari copied his grip, holding the fan out laterally with both hands evenly spaced. "Good. Now angle one end down and to your side, so the length is at about a forty-five degree angle facing away from you. This is a basic ready stance. An attack from this stance will generally come from the lower end, swinging it up to strike." He demonstrated slowly. "The upper end can then be brought down just as fast to create a double hit." He again demonstrated. "Now, you can see that your hands on the staff divide it into three parts, the top, middle, and bottom. There are very simple rules as to which segment should be used for which purpose. To defend, the only rule is to use whatever end is closest. A low cut to your leg will naturally be stopped by the bottom, and so on. An overhead block should always be made with the center segment, as it has both hands to support it and so can stop the most momentum. To attack, it is usually the opposite. The end that is farthest away will generate more momentum in the swing, and so will strike the hardest. You with me so far?" She nodded. "Okay, good. I'm going to attack you slowly, and give you time to practice defending. As you get better, I'll begin to speed up."

The ninja trained throughout the day, stopping when they needed to, but always returning. Kasei offered several more tips on techniques throughout the day. By the end of the day, Neji had all but mastered the new stance, though Lee kept falling over. Tenten and Gaara now danced around each other, whirling and striking with lightning precision. As the sun began to set, the group finally decided to stop for the day. At dinner, they finally met up with Kankuro and Naruto again, who had quite clearly spent the day together.

"We saw you all practicing." Said Naruto triumphantly, as if he had discovered a great secret.

"That's great Naruto, maybe you learned something." Shot back Sakura.

Naruto's mood darkened.

"You're not much of a teacher, Kasei. I'll bet I could teach them better."

"Good for you." Said Kasei mildly, while the rest of the table snickered. "Maybe tomorrow you can give it a try, being the expert with that katana I always see you carrying."

Everyone burst into outright laughter at Naruto's indignant expression. The blonde boy got up and stormed from the table.

"Oh, Kasei," said Sakura, "you really shouldn't antagonize Naruto much. He may be annoying, but he's not that bad. He'll do everything he can to make you're life hell if you keep it up."

"He already _is _doing that." He muttered so only Temari could hear. "This isn't antagonizing, this is revenge."  
Temari said nothing, but barely managed to restrain a grin. After dinner, most of the ninja made their way to bed. Even Gaara, who no longer had to worry about Shukaku breaking out, made his way up to the Kazekage's personal bedchamber. Kasei, however, was forced to stay back as both Lee and Gai excitedly barraged him with questions about techniques. After hours of questions and demonstrations, he finally escaped and wearily walked to his room. Inside, he left the lights off and turned to the table where he kept his equipment, unstrapping his sword and hidden sheaths. As he unhooked his belt, a slight noise behind him alerted him to another person's presence, but he did not turn around.

"Did you even wait to have a bad dream before coming in here this time?"

Temari came up behind him as he pulled his shirt off and wrapped her arms around him.

"No. I just…wanted to be with you. I don't want the dreams to come at all…"

Kasei turned around and looked down at her. She seemed so much smaller in the same thin shift, without her dark kimono or fan. He slid his arms down around her waist and held her closely.

"Sorry I took so long. But now I'm here…"

He gently lifted her and carried her to the bed and laid her down.

"Nothing can get in here but us. You're safe…"

He kissed her lips softly and began to lay down, but was surprised when Temari pulled him down to her and kissed him back, not much harder, but passionately. After a moment, he recovered from the shock and deepened the kiss, bringing a small moan from the back of her throat. After several minutes they broke apart, gasping for air. Kasei looked down at the girl and smiled slightly. She returned the smile shyly.

"You know…I think I might love you." She whispered.

Kasei's smile widened.

"I know the feeling."

He rolled off her to the side, but she snuggled in next to him just as quickly. The two fell asleep together for the third night in a row, but closer than ever.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9: The Final Day Before Departure 

For the first time, Kasei awoke in peace to the sound of the wind outside of the window. He looked down next to him and saw the beautiful kunoichi next to him, still holding onto him tightly. He rose quietly, careful not to disturb her, and walked to the window, looking out at the city beyond. _Tomorrow morning is the day we leave for Konoha, _he thought to himself. _I'll be glad to see the leaves again after all this sand but…_he looked back at Temari. _Leaving will be hard._ He walked to the bed and pulled the covers back up over the sleeping girl and gave her a light kiss, then began preparing for the day. Sliding on his tunic and arming himself similarly to the day before, he quietly opened the door and slid out. When he turned around, Kankuro stood behind him.

"What do you want? If you wake her up, I'll have to hurt you, so keep quiet."

Surprisingly, Kankuro nodded in agreement.

"I know. I just wanted to be sure of something…Naruto and I were planning to do something to you last night, never mind what, and ended up hearing the last few minutes of your…ahem _conversation._" Kasei raised one eyebrow, but otherwise said nothing. "So I just wanted to be sure…you really love her, don't you?"

Kasei looked back over his shoulder at the door silently before responding.

"I think so…I've never had anyone like that before so I cant be sure but…I think so."

"Thinking so better be good enough, for your and her sake. If you hurt her…"

"I know. You'll kill me." Interrupted Kasei then started down the hall. "If I hurt her, I'll let you."

He walked down the stairs and into the dining hall, whistling softly to himself. As he sat down, he noticed that everyone seemed to be staring at him.

"…What?"

"You just seem so…_happy_." Said Tenten. "You're _never _in a good mood in the morning."

Kasei grunted and bit into his food.

"Yeah? Well if this is the reception I get, maybe I'll stay in a bad mood."

At that moment, Naruto chose to burst into the room.

"Speaking of bad moods…" groaned Kasei.

The excided blonde ran up, spouting off a torrent of words completely indecipherable to anyone in the room. At last he calmed down enough to start ranting.

"Ah-HAH! Now we've got proof! We heard you two last night! Kankuro will back me up on…"

Before he could finish the sentence, a gust of heavy wind sent him flying to the side, right into the cavernous belly of a large puppet, which slammed shut and latched around him.

"Kankuro will do no such thing." Said the puppet master himself, directing his animation to a corner where it sat down, rocking back and forth from the struggles inside, but not opening. "_Nothing _happened last night that shouldn't have, is that understood?" He glared at the ninja seated at the table, but every one of them nodded quickly in agreement, afraid to anger the dangerous puppeteer.

His sister folded her fan and gave him a quick kiss of gratitude before, sitting down next to Kasei.

"So, apparently you and Kasei had a little talk? I hope you didn't hurt him too much."

"Not at all." Replied Kasei. "He decided himself to clear everything up and pulled me aside this morning. He really was just worried about you, so we sorted it all out without a problem. Wish I could convince Naruto the same way…" He shot a sidelong glance at the puppet, which was still bouncing around agitatedly. Temari just giggled.

"I don't think miracles are a part of even _your _ninja training." She kissed him quickly. "Without Kankuro egging him on, he won't be a real problem. Don't worry about him."

Kasei noticed that, yet again, every one was staring at them.

"What is it now?"

"I thought…Kankuro said…" stuttered Sakura.

"All he said was we didn't _do _anything. That does not specify the status of our relationship."

He looked down, ending the conversation. Sakura could only sit and fume jealously. After breakfast, Lee and Gai raced outside, roaring about training. Oddly enough, Neji rose and followed them. As Kasei watched him leave, he decided that secretly, the Hyuuga just liked the opportunity to hit Lee. Just when Kasei began to leave, Sakura came up to him, smiling sweetly.

"Kasei-kun, could you help me with my training? I can't seem to get the stance you showed us."

Opting to ignore the "-kun" suffix, Kasei agreed with a sigh.

"Alright, but only that. I don't want to spend the rest of the day teaching."

Eyes glinting mischievously, Sakura grabbed his hand and dragged him away. As he was pulled out the door, he shot a glance over his shoulder at Temari, who was watching unhappily, and mouthed _I'll be back later _to her. Instantly brightening, she smiled and nodded, then turned back to her conversation with Tenten and Garr. Ignorant of the exchange, Sakura pulled Kasei behind her up to the roof.

"Okay," began Kasei, "now get into the stance."

Obediently, Sakura assumed the relaxed position, purposefully leaving several noticeable flaws. Her instructor reached out and shifted her arm's position, then moved around behind her. She waited until he was no longer looking directly at her, then managed to twist her foot around to trip him. Though he easily began to roll with the fall, the pink-haired girl interrupted it and pinned him to the ground. Kasei looked right and left at her hands on his shoulders, then looked back up at her.

"Please don't do something that will make me need to hurt you. I was looking forwards to a relaxing last day here."

Sakura completely ignored his warning.

"Kasei-kun, you don't really love her, right? You're just having some fun while you're here, then everything will be back to normal, right?"

Kasei raised an eyebrow.

"Whatever gave you that idea?" he asked.

"Because you've got _me!_" she gushed, self-assured that she was irresistible. "I'll do anything you want. You don't need that Sand tramp to…"

In a blur, Sakura found herself on her back with Kasei standing over her. A split second later, two senbon imbedded themselves next to her head and she found a sword tip to be tickling her chin.

"Now listen." Said Kasei calmly, his emotionless voice somehow promising death more surely than anger ever could. "I'm new to this whole love business, but I'm fairly sure it is correct for me to say that you ever insult her again, I'll make that pretty little body of yours into a mess that no one would ever look at again. Understand?"

Sakura nodded, terrified. Her fear only multiplied when another voice sounded from behind Kasei.

"And besides," Temari added, leaning on her fan. "If I ever see you touch my boyfriend again, I'll kill you."

Kasei took his sword tip away and Sakura bolted, using every evasive and speed-enhancing technique she knew to get as far away as possible. Not even bothering to watch her flee, Kasei sheathed his ninja-to and turned to face Temari.

"So, I'm an official boyfriend now?"

Temari let out a small laugh and stowed her fan.

"You could be…" she took a step closer and looked at the ground, suddenly shy. "I'd certainly like you to be…"

Kasei pulled her closer and lifted her head to look up at him.

"If you want me, I'm yours. No other girl has a chance."

Temari smiled, a small tear of happiness beginning to form in her eyes, then suddenly leapt into his arms, winding her legs around his waist and kissing him fiercely. Kasei staggered back slightly in surprise, then kissed her back just as fervently. His slid his hands to her ass to support her and she groaned, feeling a warmth growing between her legs as well as his pressing hardness against her. She ground her hips down into his and he felt his knees weaken, causing him to stumble back against the railing of the roof. The jolt broke their kiss and Temari looked at him lustfully.

"Bed…now." She managed to gasp, and Kasei need no further instructions. Still holding her, he stepped into the shadow of the building and vanished along with the girl, reappearing in his room. As soon as they appeared, she untangled herself from him and hastily began unfastening his sword and utility belt while he pulled her fan from her wide sash and tossed it aside. Their lips met in another forceful kiss as they stumbled back towards the bed. When Temari felt herself run into it, she again broke away and yanked off his shirt. Before she could progress any further though, he unwound the sash around her waist. Without the restraint, the black kimono fell open. Biting his lip to keep from moaning, Kasei raked his gaze up and down her body, not reacting in the slightest when she pushed his pants down as well, letting his hard cock spring out.

"Nothing underneath?" he asked curiously when he finally could manage to speak.

Temari blushed lightly.

"Let's just say this wasn't the furthest thing from my mind when I woke up today." She said as she slipped the kimono off her. She then kicked off her sandals and lay back on the bed, legs spread slightly so he could glimpse her glistening opening. Kasei stepped out of his boots and pants, then slowly bent over her. He kissed her neck, then trailed down her collarbone to her perfectly rounded breasts. She moaned as his lips brushed a nipple and tangled her hands in his hair, holding him to her breast as he kissed and sucked lightly. After giving the other breast the same treatment, he moved back up to her lips. As soon as they met, Temari pulled him down on top of her and spread her legs slightly wider.

"Please…no more teasing. I want you…" she gasped out.

Kasei could only kiss her intensely, then pushed down, letting his tip slip into her. She gasped at his entrance, letting out a small whimper as he slid two inches in, but suddenly changed to a cry of pain as he encountered a barrier. He looked down, concerned.

"Sorry. I didn't realize this was your…"

She silenced him with a kiss.

"Shut up. I'd rather you have this more than anyone I've ever met. Just…go slow for a while."

He nodded and cautiously progressed. The girl bit her lip and closed her eyes tightly in pain as he tore through, a tear slipping down her cheek. Kasei kissed it away, but halted his movement as she froze with him fully in her.

"Just…give me a minute."

He said nothing, but kissed her tenderly as she adjusted to his size within her until she finally nodded.

"Okay. Keep going."

Slowly, he drew out and she restrained a cry of pain. When he pushed back again, the agony lessened somewhat and all but vanished by the third stroke. She involuntarily spread her legs further and whispered, "_Faster" _into her lover's ear. Wordlessly he thrust deeply, drawing a moan from her, then built up to a steady pace. Temari lifted her legs and wrapped them around his waist, forcing him deeper and forcing a low groan from him. As his pace intensified, she twisted beneath him, whimpering louder and louder with each thrust. Her orgasm hit her hard, a sudden scream ripping from her throat as she arched her back and ground her hips up against him. Feeling her inner muscles around him clench, Kasei cried out suddenly as he climaxed hard inside. For nearly a full minute the two writhed, Temari's cries mingling with his groans. Then he collapsed on top of her, too weak to continue thrusting. As her orgasm subsided, she wrapped her arms around him, holding him inside her, and giggled slightly at the feeling of his hot cum trickling inside her. After a moment, he lifted his head from against her shoulder and looked down at her lovingly.

"Can I just stay like this? I could spend the rest of the day inside you without complaint."

Temari's giggles increased and she jerked her hips slightly, drawing a groan from him along with a final burst of cum, then kissed him on the nose.

"You'll hear no complaints from me." She whispered. "But I don't think the others would like it. We just got Kankuro to accept it, but I think he might go crazy if he found out you spent all day fucking his sister."

With a disappointed sigh, Kasei rolled off her to the side and lay on his back next to her. She sat up and got to her knees, looking down at him.

"You were wonderful though." she whispered, and he smiled, then reached a hand up to run along her side and leg.

"You're beautiful, you know that?"

Temari just blushed.

"You shouldn't say things like that. Pretty soon I won't be able to keep off of you."

Kasei sat up and stretched, then winked at her.

"That's not a bad thing, love."

Gradually, though they frequently interrupted each other with kisses and somewhat more intimate contact, they managed to get dressed again. Hand in hand, they walked down the stairs and out into the blaring sun. In the open street in front of the Kazekage tower, several of the other ninja were practicing the techniques Kasei had showed them yesterday. Their actions had attracted a small crowd of both sand ninja and civilians, who had gathered not only to watch their Kazekage. Tenten had consented to allowing Gaara to practice his ranged sword technique, and was furiously defending herself against the hovering blade, controlled by Gaara a few meters away. Lee had teamed with Gai against Neji, who seemed to be holding off the two with little effort, though a careful observer would see that he was sorely pressed behind his impassive facade. Upon seeing Kasei, however, Lee ceased his attacks (much to Neji's relief) and rushed over.

"Kasei-sensei!" Kasei winced at the title, but Lee failed to notice. "Please, train with us! Gai-sensei and I have incorporated your stance into the Gouken technique. Please, fight with us and allow us to show you."

Kasei sighed and began to shake his head, trying to decline, but Temari nudged him in the side.

"Go make him happy now. We can spend the rest of the day together later." She kissed him on the cheek, then stepped back out of the way. "Kick his ass."

With a resigned sigh, Kasei faced the two green clad ninja.

"Alright, you win. Any rules you want?"

"None! A fight to the finish!" roared Lee, but the slightly calmer Gai stepped in.

"Just to make it fair, no ninjutsu or weapons. I assume you can fight proficiently without them?" Kasei just smirked and set his sword aside. "Good. Other than that, no deaths preferably."

The Konoha and Sand citizens spread out in a loose circle around the three combatants. Kasei pulled a pair of half-finger gloves out of his belt and slowly pulled them on, never taking his eyes off his opponents. Ever courteous, they waited until he was done and had assumed the defensive stance demonstrated yesterday, but even then they waited.

"Kasei, having seen your use of that stance, we cannot bring ourselves to attack you while you use it. You must make the first move." Explained Gai.

With a nod, Kasei shifted his stance slightly, then ran at the men. With an eager roar, they both charged him and leapt into identical spinning kicks…which struck thin air. They whirled around and saw Kasei standing calmly.

"So you are serious about this and will not hold any nonlethal physical injury against me?"

"Of course!" roared Lee.

"Very well"

Kasei assumed the strangest stance anyone had seen. Standing on one leg, he bent the other and crossed his foot over his knee. Then he lifted both arms and held them out, wing-like, and bent his leg. The posture appeared to be a modified version of the Crane stance. Without hesitation, Lee and Gai charged again. The instant they came in range, however, Kasei uncoiled like a spring. Spinning on his set foot, he swung the other high at Gai's head. The taijutsu master easily caught the incoming foot, but Kasei was far from finished. He continued his motion down and came up on his hands, swinging his other foot to catch the man in the face, knocking him away. Instead of flipping up to his hands, though, he spun on his hands, forcing Lee to suddenly face a hail of kicks from above. When Gai came back in, the Past ninja launched himself into the air over the leading blow and landed on his feet. The fight continued in this manner, Lee and Gai swinging futily while Kasei danced around, on his hands as often as his feet, while darting in and delivering devastating blows at every opening. What had started strangely ended in hilarity, however. With simultaneous cries of _Konoha Dai Senpuu _they leapt at Kasei from opposite sides. Unconcernedly, the young ninja watched their approach until they were too close to change course, then simply ducked beneath them with near invisible speed. Before they could even shout in surprise, the master and student collided. Their powerful kicks knocked them both to the ground and, before they could recover, Kasei appeared next to them and drove his stiffened fingers into identical points on each of them. They both stiffened and sat frozen on the ground, only their eyes darting back and forth while Kasei stepped back with a slight grin. It took a long moment for the surrounding crowd to register what had happened, then they burst into cheers for the young ninja, who made no acknowledgement of them, but simply retrieved his sword. Temari approached him with a wide smile.

"Somehow I'm not surprised." She laughed. "You've been holding out on us, haven't you?"

Kasei shrugged.

"A smart fighter doesn't reveal all his secrets until he absolutely must. They were overconfident."

"From what I know of them, they always are." Said Temari with a grin. "What did you do to them?"  
"Simple pressure point. They'll regain control in a moment."

Just as he spoke, the two nearly identical ninja leapt to their feet.

"Well done, friend!" roared Lee. "You must teach me some of those moves!"

"Some things are best left for later." Replied Kasei, then slid an arm around Temari's waist. "Besides, I've got places to go now. Later."

The two walked off casually. As soon as they were out of earshot, Temari looked up at Kasei questioningly.

"Places to go? Like where?"

"Anywhere but there." He muttered, and she burst into laughter.

"Well come on, we can find somewhere to go."

She took his hand and raced off, dragging the hapless nin behind her. She spent the day browsing through shops, buying nothing but cooing over insanely expensive items. Kasei followed resignedly, having no other suggestions for the day. Finally, the sun began to set, and they were forced to return to the central tower. At dinner, even Lee and Gai were quiet, the thought of their imminent departure setting in. Gaara rose and cleared his throat as the final plates were cleared.

"I'm not one for speeches, as I'm sure you all realize." He began in his gravelly voice. "But I feel I must say something. In Suna's time of need, Konoha answered without question, only out of friendship. Your newest recruit, Kasei, came without even that and only knew that a fellow ninja was in need of aid. He and Sakura worked together to save my life, and for that I feel a special debt of gratitude is owed to each of them." he gestured to each, who nodded in thanks. "But they did not accomplish this alone. For that, I am personally in the debt of each of you. I will anticipate your next visit to my village. Arigato." With that, the Kazekage folded his hands and bowed solemnly to the Leaf ninja. The party then split up for the night. Not even bothering to pretend anymore, Temari followed Kasei to his room. Once entering, he walked to the window, arms behind his back, and gazed up at the full moon.

"I will miss this place…" he said softly. " I have come to love a great deal about it. The stars seem clearer without the obscuring trees, though I don't think I could ever spend my life surrounded by sand." He heard a soft rustling behind him, but did not turn around. Finally, he heard Temari's voice.

"This is your last night. We don't need to worry about your departure yet. We should enjoy this night while we have it."

Something in her voice made him turn, and the sight made his heart skip a beat. The young woman lay on the bed, entirely naked with her kimono discarded on the floor. Wordlessly, he discarded his clothing and made his way to the bed. She pulled him down into a heavy kiss as he covered her with his body, then all other thoughts were lost amongst their overwhelming passion.


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10: Farewell and Welcome

The morning came quietly, almost regretfully it seemed. Kasei woke from what he was sure would be his last peaceful slumber for a long time. Silently, he dressed and slipped out the door without waking Temari. The girl woke nearly an hour later and sat up, unconcernedly letting the blanket fall from her bare chest. Confused, she sleepily looked around for Kasei. Suddenly remembering what day it was, she leapt to her feet and threw on her kimono without even tying the sash. She bolted out the door and nearly ran into Kasei himself.

"Woah, what's the rush now?"

She looked up at him silently for a moment, then threw her arms around him and buried her head in his chest.

"I thought you'd left already…" she whispered.

He smiled and kissed the top of her head.

"You think I'd leave without saying goodbye?" She looked up at him. "It's hard enough to leave even though I can take the time to say goodbye." He kissed her lightly, but she pressed in, desperate for his touch, and let out a small whimper of disappointment when he broke away.

"Now, maybe you should go back in the room and take a minute to dress properly. As much as I like the view, I'd prefer it if you kept it to yourself in public." He said with a small smile.

Temari looked down at herself and blushed. Without the securing sash, her kimono hung open in the front, freely displaying her naked body. Glancing down the hallway to check if anyone had seen her, she ducked back into the room and hastily picked up her sash. Kasei, meanwhile, slowly made his way over to his discarded equipment. While Temari watched sadly, he belted his second sword over his shoulder and refastened his kunai sheath to his thigh. Swinging his cloak over the entire ensemble, though leaving the hood down, he turned to face Temari. She stood with a single tear running down her face, though she fought to retain her composure. He slipped his arm around her and the two slowly made their way out to the gates of Suna. Gaara and Kankuro were there saying farewell to each of the ninja individually, so Temari broke away from him, feeling it was her duty to also thank each of them. Kasei stood alone awkwardly, well aware of the awe-filled gazes directed towards him from the people of the Sand. Apparently tales of his exploits against Sasori had spread throughout the city. Relief finally came when Kankuro walked up to him and extended a hand.

"I suppose I never really thanked you for Gaara's life. We owe you a great deal for that. And…well, I still can't say I like how it worked out with you and Temari, but she knows what she's doing, and if there was ever anyone good enough for her, it's gotta be you."

Kasei clasped his hand warmly, then stepped back and bowed, much to Kankuro's surprise.

"Thank you. Take care of her for me, will you?"

Kankuro flashed a grin.

"Usually she's the one taking care of us, but I'll do my best. Have a good trip home. I promise not to try and kill you whenever we next meet."

As he walked away, Gaara finished talking with Gai and the still immobile Kakashi, and so approached him. Before talking, both ninja simply stood before each other, looking.

"I see pain in you." Said Gaara, finally breaking the stillness. "I know nothing of your history, but I feel that you have suffered more than even I. Whatever happens from here on, remember that you are not alone. You have found a way to my sister's heart, something some have believed impossible, and you have saved my life, nearly at the cost of your own. For that, I name you as close as any brother I could have." He slowly extended a hand to Kasei, who looked down at it, then accepted it gratefully. "You will always have a place here in the Sand." Continued Gaara, the barest hint of emotion creeping into his voice. "Even if not for my sister's insistence, I would have it be so."

Again, Kasei stepped back and bowed, though deeper and more warmly.

"If you are ever in need of anything, do not hesitate to send word. Arigato."

Gaara returned the bow, then stepped away just in time to avoid the rush of a blonde kunoichi. Kasei managed to brace himself before Temari smashed into him, crying openly.

"I d-don…y-you can't leave! I just found you, and now you're l-leaving again…p-please don't…"

Kasei held her tenderly, ignoring the shocked stares of the Suna citizens, both civilian and ninja alike. He gently kissed her until her sobs quieted, then whispered softly to her.

"Temari, you aren't losing me. I have been alone all my life…never felt the need for any one…except for you. I promise, I will come back to you, no matter what."

She kissed him back hungrily until he stepped back from her.

"I have something for you."

He reached beneath his cloak and from his belt pulled a pair of intricately made normal-sized golden fans.

"Kasei these are…the fans we saw yesterday. In the case in the back of that weaponry shop. But they were so _expensive_…" she began to protest, but Kasei silenced her.

"It was nothing. They're yours now."

"They're beautiful. But I can't use these."

"They look ornate," he explained, misunderstanding her concern, "but they will never break, no matter what they're put through."

Temari shook her head.

"No, I mean I _can't._ I've tried to use smaller fans, but I can't get the motion right. I'm not precise enough for them."

Kasei just kissed her again, then began to walk away.

"Do not think of them as a tool to fight with. Learn to dance, Temari, and it will fall into place. Goodbye, love."

With those final cryptic words, he rejoined the Konoha ninja and together they walked out the gate. Temari stood, clutching the fans to her and watching, until they disappeared over the horizon.

The Konoha ninja made good time over the desert wastes, and in a few hours came to the edge of the great forest. Over the next few days as they traveled, it became evident that Kasei had resumed the stoic demeanor that he apparently had abandoned in Suna. Hesitantly, Sakura quickened her pace to bring her up next to him.

"Hey." She ventured.

Kasei only gave a small grunt in response, his face again shadowed beneath his hood.

"Is something wrong?"

"Nothing really. I just need time to think."

Sakura waited silently for more but, when it became apparent that he wouldn't say anything else, she tried again.

"I know what it's like to lose someone you love…you can talk to me if you want."

"I haven't lost her. I would not be so shallow to think that she is gone just because of distance between us. I already said, I just need time to think."

Caimaru, running beside his master, looked up at Sakura and gave a slight growl. She finally took the hint and backed off, taking refuge with Naruto. They talked for a moment, then the blonde boy sped up to Kasei.

"Ok, I know we haven't really gotten along, but I need to talk for you. For Sakura's sake, at least."

"Then talk. I only stop you when you're spouting your usual nonsense."

Naruto bit back his anger at the insult and pushed on.

"She…had a thing for our old team mate. A really major thing. When he left, it nearly broke her. She's been trying to get past the hurt ever since then and …well, I think she may have taken it too literally when she was told you would be his replacement."

Kasei had already assumed as much.

"She wanted me to replace Sasuke's place in her heart. For such a smart kunoichi, she confuses me sometimes. She should know better than any that if she loved him as much as she claims, I can never replace him."

"I think she's starting to realize that. I just wanted to make things clear. No matter what she tries or anyone tells you, you can _never _replace Sasuke." He said with the air of a threat in his tone.

Kasei did not respond to the threat in any way.

"That was never my intention." He said calmly, much to Naruto's surprise. "It is a proven fact that ninja teams work better in groups of three, so you needed another in Sasuke's absence. I am merely filling in for him, not taking his place. I promise you, if the opportunity ever arises to get him back, I will be alongside you without question."

The two continued side by side, Kasei lost in thought and Naruto fighting his conflicting emotions.

"I'm sorry." The blonde finally managed to force out. "I've been an idiot, more so than usual. I was mistrustful of you at first, then jealous because I could see that Sakura liked you. I'm sorry." The apology was obviously painful.

If Naruto could see Kasei's face beneath his hood, he would have been amused to see his surprised expression.

"Forgiven, I guess. I understand your reasons, though your methods were a bit childish. I know what you've been through, what it takes to wear a smile every morning despite it all."

Now it was Naruto who grew solemn.

"No offense, but I don't think you understand me at all. You couldn't know."

Kasei looked over at him with a smile.

"Couldn't I? Is a Jinchuuriki in a village of ninja so different than an outsider in the Village of the Past? My parents were killed in front of me, by people who they had never raised a hand against. My only friend before I reached Konoha was Caimaru. Don't pretend to know me; I understand you as well as Gaara, if not better."

Naruto was unusually quiet.

"Well…then I'm sorry again, for assuming I knew you." He looked up at Kasei with a sudden smirk. "But we'll show 'em all, right? Everyone that knocked us around better watch out now. I've got your back if you've got mine." He extended a hand to Kasei, who clasped it without breaking stride.

"Deal." He agreed with a grin. "They'll never stop us."

The pact agreed upon, the two new friends traveled on for a long time until Naruto spoke again.

"So…you're officially with Temari, eh?"

"Yes." Said Kasei, narrowing his eyes at the blonde, as if daring him to make some crack about it.

Naruto raised his hands in defense.

"Hey, hey, I'm fine with it, now that I know you're not leading Sakura on or anything. I've just always thought she was kinda mean."

Kasei laughed.

"Hahaha well, she can be, but only if you annoy her. Or if she just got up on the wrong side of bed…but don't tell her I said that."

"Not a word." Naruto grinned. "I was just wondering what Shikamaru's gonna think."

"The shadow user?" Kasei bit out angrily.

"Yeah, I think he's had a thing for Temari ever since they fought in the Chuunin exams. He may not like it, and Choji'll probably side with him no matter what."

"Choji?"

"Shika's best friend. From the Akimichi clan, known for their…"

"Multi-size techniques, I know." Interrupted Kasei, then muttered "_troublesome" _under his breath, but Naruto heard it.

"You sounded just like Shika there. You sure you're not related?"

Kasei was silent, then responded quietly.

"It's possible."

Naruto did a double take, not expecting an answer to his sarcastic comment.

"Wait, _what?_"

"What has Sakura told you about me?"

"Well she mentioned your parents were from Konoha, but…wait, were they Nara?"

"My mother…their greatest shadow user."

"And your father was…." He glanced at the tattoos on his face._ "Inuzuka?" _Kasei just nodded, and Naruto began to rant eagerly. "Wow, wait until I tell Kiba and Shika! You're like, their long lost cousin or…"

Kasei cut him off.

"You will do no such thing. My parents were banished from the village because of their clan's damn prejudices against each other."

"Prejudice? But…but Shikamaru and Kiba get along just fine."

Kasei shrugged.

"It's a secret feud. No one really knows why, they just secretly hate each other…stupidest thing ever, if you ask me. They would have killed me and my parents for being together, if the Third hadn't stepped in and compromised."

"The Third saved my life too…the villagers probly would have killed me for holding the Kyuubi, if the Hokage hadn't put laws in place to protect me."

"He was a great man…" The ninja crested a hill and looked down. Below them Konoha stretched out at the base of the mountain. "Konoha is full of great people." Kasei mused. "Unfortunately, they're outnumbered by the impulsive and ignorant."

"People are just scared." Came a voice from behind the two. Kakashi, shakily on his feet and being assisted by Sakura, came up behind the two. "They react unkindly to what they don't understand. Kasei, you haven't had time to explore the village and get to know people, and you may not be welcomed kindly at first. Those who know stories of the ninja of the Past fear them greatly. With good reason, I might add, but they may act unreasonably. Be on your guard for a time."

"I always am." Replied Kasei softly, and the teams started down the hill. Several minutes later, they arrived at the open gates of Konoha and passed through uneventfully, the guards recognizing the group and not hindering them. The village was quiet so early in the day, and they made it to the Hokage tower without encountering anyone. Surprisingly, the woman was awake and making her way through a mountain of paperwork.

"What do you want?" she snapped as the door opened, then leapt to her feet when she saw who it was.

"Excellent, you're back. How did it go."

"Complete success with no losses." Announced Kakashi. "Only a few minor wound."

Kasei snorted derisively at this.

"Alright, some very serious wounds." Amended Kakashi. "No one died, so it's all fine."

Tsunade eyed Kasei, noting the changes in his demeanor. He seemed so much…_happier _than when he had departed.

"Anything else I should know about?"

"Well, there's our new friend here…" Kasei shot a warning glance at Kakashi, but the Jounin ignored it and continued. "I think he's officially a national hero in Suna. Damned fool charged a hundred puppets with only a little back up from Sakura and his wolfhound there. He got hit by a poisoned blade then took two nearly vital stab wounds. Sakura healed him up a bit, but he just charged off to save Tenten and reopened them again, then still had enough chakra left to lend to Sakura so she could practically resurrect the Kazekage. The poison practically killed him before we got back to Suna and Sakura could treat it."

"Well, that's quite impressive. Sakura, I'm proud of you. Bringing back Gaara from a near-death state was an insanely high-level technique. Come back later, I need to discuss something with you. Kasei, Kakashi, I need you to stay here for a moment. Everyone else, dismissed. Good job."

She waited until they had all exited the office, then looked at the two remaining.

"Alright. The Kazekage sent me a report a few days ago, so I've had time to get over that little stunt you pulled. One hundred puppets? What were you thinking?!"

Kasei scuffed his foot on the floor awkwardly.

"I hardly did all the work. Sakura's the one who took him out, anyway."

"Yes, by using an opening you gave her nearly at the cost of your life. Gaara wasn't even there any more. You could have just run."

Kasei's head snapped up and his eyes narrowed, the dangerous look suddenly reminding that she wasn't dealing with an ordinary genin.

"I don't run. _Ever. _And if we had, he would have either followed or worse, gone after Naruto and Kakashi. They couldn't have dealt with both Sasori and Deidara. _I had no choice._"

Tsunade took a deep breath to push aside her sudden flash of terror, then nodded.

"You're right. It was the only way out of the situation, and it didn't kill you after all, so no harm done. Here." She took a Leaf headband from a drawer in her desk and tossed it to him. "You've earned this a dozen times over. Wear it proudly."

Kasei looked down at the headband, lost in thought for a long moment, then reverently tied it around his bicep, covering the _myth _kanji.

"Arigato, Hokage-sama."

She nodded in acknowledgement, then continued.

"There's more, however. Gaara's report tells me that you are a brilliant fighter, skilled tactician, usually amenable and, above all else, fiercely loyal to your comrades. Officially, you are ranked as a genin in the books. While I know you don't care, it will affect how both fellow ninja, and foreign villages view you. I feel that this needs to change. There is a chuunin exam coming up soon, and I've already entered your name. I have managed to get the other villages to agree to an exception, allowing you and Naruto to compete as a team of two instead of the usual three."

"So what do you need me for?" spoke up Kakashi.

"I need you," she turned to face him, "to train him."

"What?!" Even if he had removed his mask, the jounin couldn't have looked more shocked. "Didn't you _read _that report? As he is right now, I'd be hard pressed in a fight against him. What the hell would he possibly need my training for?"

Tsunade waited for him to calm down, then explained.

"While his hand-to-hand combat is unmatched, I'm assuming that his jutsu knowledge is severely lacking. I need you to expand it.

"Are you crazy? I've seen him use…"

"No." Kasei cut him off. "She's right. I know a few of the shadow jutsus and a couple animal-melding techniques, but beyond that, I don't know anything."

"Well, that still doesn't explain _why _you want me to teach him. He's more than capable of getting through the chuunin exam without a scratch on him, even without jutsus. I know more techniques than most people alive, and I _still _wouldn't want to face him."

"For the _chuunin_ exam, yes he's perfectly capable.." Tsunade trailed off and waited until Kasei realized what she was implying.

"You've got to be kidding me." He groaned. "He hasn't been part of the village for even a month, and you _already _want to do it?"

"Do _what?_" asked Kasei, finally getting sick of not knowing what they were debating.

"Jounin exam. Unless you are completely unable to use jutsus, like Rock Lee for example, then you are required to have at least a moderate knowledge of them."

"Huh? Seriously? How can you trust me that much already. You don't know me." he looked at Tsunade.

"Kasei, let me put it this way. If I told you right now that most of the village civilians were coming to kill you, and the only way to escape them was to kill them first, what would you do? I know you're fully capable of fighting them all, so don't deny that. Would you kill them?"

"I…no of course not."

"Why not?"

He pointed to the Leaf insignia she had just given him.

"When I took this, it was a promise to protect this village and its people. I do not go back on my word."

Tsunade nodded.

"Exactly. You have the skill to kill every civilian and most of the ninja in this village, but you have the compassion and honor not to, even at the cost of your own life. We cannot ask for any more in a jounin. Kakashi."

The masked ninja rose to his feet.

"Okay, okay, you've convinced me. Still, we're not starting for a few days. I still haven't recovered, and I have a feeling that I'm going to need to be at my best for this."

"Agreed, but I expect you to begin as soon as possible. Now, dismissed."

The two bowed and exited the office. Once they were out of Tsunade's earshot, Kakashi looked at his new student.

"Well this should be amusing. Naruto will likely have a fit, at the very least."

Kasei laughed.

"He's loud and annoying, but fairly harmless. I don't think he'll cause too many problems."


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11: Rhythm and Training 

That night, Hyuuga Neji decided to visit the newest Konoha ninja, and to introduce him to his cousin. The genius and heiress made their way from the Hyuuga complex down to a lower-class part of town. Eventually, they found a small, second story apartment. Hesitantly, Neji knocked on the door. A moment later, the door swung open to reveal Caimaru, who looked up at them curiously before turning and padding away. Neji had already witnessed Kasei's close relationship with his pet and so followed without hesitation into a sparsely decorated living room, with a small kitchen in one corner and a few overstuffed armchairs and a sofa. The wolfhound did not stop, however, and they continued back through another doorway into a dim room. The only illumination came from the fire burning in the small hearth, and a few candles scattered about the room. In front of the hearth was Kasei, shirtless and spinning through a blurring series of katas with a single katana. Hinata, who had not yet met the boy, much less seen him in action, clasped her hands to her mouth to strangle a gasp at his flawless movements. The Hyuugas stood silently, watching until he came to a halt, the blade held in a relaxed ready position and his heaving chest betraying his calm façade. After a moment, he broke the silence.

"So, what can I do for you? Surely you didn't just come to chat."

Neji started, jerked out of the near trance-like state the whirling blade had pulled him into.

"Actually, I came to do just that' my friend. I've been curious about you and your techniques since we met. I hope it was not too much to bring along my cousin, Hinata, the Hyuuga heiress."

Kasei turned to face the two and bowed to Hinata.

"Of course not. It is an honor to meet you, Hyuuga Hinata."

The girl blushed and muttered what they could only assume to be a similar greeting in response.

"Well, what do you want to discuss? I have few secrets, so ask away."

"Well, another one has arisen since we arrived here. Two, actually. Back in Suna, I heard you specifically say to Tenten and Gaara that you did not use the katana. From what I've just witnessed, however, that hardly seems to be true. That was the most magnificent dance I have ever seen from any art, even from masters of the Juuken."

Kasei slowly returned the katana to an ornate sheath, then placed it on a set of hooks on the wall next to a wide array of other weapons.

"Things have…changed. Ever since Suna, I seem to have found the rhythm that escaped me before, though I'm not sure why or how."

A rare smile crossed the Hyuuga's face.

"I think I understand that better than you. Currently, I believe you have difficulty sleeping, and always have except when we were in Suna. Tell me why."

"Temari. She…calmed me. For the first time in years, I was able to let all the thoughts in my head calm and I could relax."

Neji nodded.

"As I thought. The Hyuuga Juuken style is one that requires a relaxed mind, untroubled by anything out of the moment. The perfection you demand from the katana can only be reached by a calm mind. While you are completely relaxed in Temari's presence, the knowledge that she is there waiting for you is enough even without her physically with you. Never let her go, my friend, or your life may fall into a deeper darkness then what she pulled you from."

Kasei stood facing the wall for a long moment, watching the firelight flicker across the weapons, then nodded.

"Thank you, Neji." He pulled a tunic on, and then turned back to his guests. "Now, let's go into the living room where there's a bit more light. We'll see how many deep secrets of the Hidden Past you can pry out of me."

"Before that, I had another question."

"Well it seems this will be an entire night of questions, so another won't hurt."

Neji gestured around the room.

"We have electric lighting in Konoha. Candles and fire hasn't had to be used for lighting in nearly a hundred years. Why do you have no other lights in here?"

"I just…like fire." Replied Kasei awkwardly. "Candlelight is more relaxing and soothing than electric light."

Neji nodded.

"That's a good enough answer for me. Your own home is for whatever makes you comfortable."

The three walked out. The Hyuugas stayed for several hours, delving deeply into the art of chakra suppression and various other ancient ninja arts. Even Hinata eventually grew bold enough to ask Kasei to show her the techniques he had demonstrated in Suna. Eventually, the pair saw how late it was and were forced to leave, though Neji assured Kasei that he was far from done and still had plenty more questions. With a laugh, Kasei assured him they could wait until later and said goodbye. He spent the remainder of the night in deep meditation and practice, his thoughts never straying from either the whirling curved blade or the blonde Sand kunoichi.

Two days later, Kasei was leaning calmly against a tree on training ground 3. Naruto, who had seen him heading there, was now raving after being told his intent there.

"You're doing _what?!"_

"I told you." Replied Kasei calmly. "Tsunade-sama insisted that I expand my jutsu knowledge before the Chuunin exams, and Kakashi is the best man to instruct me."

Naruto slumped to the ground, sulking.

"I still don't get why _you _get to have private lessons. Kakashi never offers to help _me _with my jutsus."

"You were born and raised around jutsus, Naruto. My only knowledge of them is from the rushed and secretive teachings of my parents, which they were ultimately killed for. Do not forget, Naruto, chakra-use is forbidden where I come from."

"…sorry." Naruto ducked his head shamefully. "I didn't mean to bring that up."

"It's fine." Kasei waved it off. "But think about it this way, if you prefer. These are something like _remedial _lessons for me, to let me catch up with everyone else."

Naruto looked up, grinning.

"So really, that means…I'm ahead of you! Hah!"

Kasei shook his head, but was glad that his efforts to play to Naruto's pride had paid off. Just then, a quiet _whoosh _sounded behind them. Naruto whirled, but Kasei hardly flinched.

"Judging by your current arrival, and those in the past that I've witnessed, would it be safe for me to assume that you're late for nearly everything?"

Kakashi grinned sheepishly beneath his mask.

"Sorry, sorry. I was on my way here, when I saw a fascinating display in a shop…"

"Yeah, yeah, whatever. Maybe you could get Naruto here to calm down before he hurts himself."

The jounin looked over at the excitable blonde, who was practically bouncing.

"You can't join us but…want to watch?" he offered.

Naruto pumped his fist in the air.

"Hai! I'll learn everything, just by watching you!"

"I'm sure you will." Said Kakashi, though Naruto missed the sarcasm. Then he turned back to Kasei and looked him up and down.

"No cloak and a katana instead of ninja-to?" he asked, referring to his attire and the weapon on his back.

Kasei shrugged.

"The cloak is useful for concealment, but there's little need for it here. The katana…well let's just say I felt like a change."

"Alright, good enough. Now, to begin with, how much have you worked with fine chakra control."

"Probably more than you have." Said Kasei seriously. "I've been trained to suppress my chakra, remember? I need to be able to control every nuance of its flow. My morning and nightly routine every day is to concentrate on the flow and slow it, the opposite of what most ninja learn."

Kakashi scratched his head.

"Oh, yeah. I forgot about that…alright, I guess we can skip the easy stuff. How about elements? Do you know your element?"

"Uh…elements?"

"I'll take that as a no. Most advanced jutsus deal with the manipulation of the elements. Each ninja has an element that favors them particularly. The first step to advanced jutsus is finding your element. Now, sit down." Kasei sat cross-legged on the grass. "Good. Now concentrate on nature itself. Everything around you and everything you've seen. Rain, thunder, earthquakes, tornadoes…just think. This isn't the usual path to finding an element, usually they just are stumbled upon, but we don't have the time for that. Concentrate, and tell me what comes to mind.

Kasei closed his eyes and let his mind drift. He passed over images of mountains and oceans, and through empty skies, but his mind continued to wander. Suddenly, the blue skies in his mind darkened, and the boom of thunder rolled from the dark clouds, along with a bright flash. Kasei jerked away and snapped out of the trance to see Kakashi and Naruto looking down on him.

"Did you see anything?"

Kasei slowly stood.

"Storms…thunder and lightning."

Kakashi raised his eyebrow.

"Lightning element…unusual."

"What's so strange about that?" piped up Naruto. "You use lightning in the Chidori, and so does Sasuke. That one member of the Seven Swordsman, Kurosuki Raiga, used almost nothing _but _lightning."

"There's a difference there. Raiga manipulated the lightning through his swords, not himself, and it was weak at best. You each took several direct hits that, under the control of a true lightning elementalist, would have killed you instantly. Sasuke and I are fire elements, and lightning is sometimes considered an advanced form of fire, so we can manipulate it to a certain extent. Outside of Lightning Country, a true lightning user is almost unheard of. Kasei…" Kakashi shook his head. "Lightning is considered one of the most deadly elements. It is unpredictable, precise, and fast. Which, now that I think about it, suits Kasei here perfectly."

Kasei smiled slightly.

"Okay. When can we start with it? Any seals I need to learn?"

Kakashi closed his eyes and sighed.

"Kasei, you said you knew all about fine chakra control. What is the highest level of control known?"

"Seal-less control." Said Kasei instantly. "Naruto, surprisingly, has begun to master it."

"Wait, wha-?"

"The Rasengan." Kasei answered before the question could be finished. "You don't need any seals for it. Logically, if that can be done, any jutsu can be done without seals. I even do it with my Shadow Shift technique, but I don't see what this has to do with anything though."

"You're a weapon user." Said Kakashi simply. "Whether with two ninja-to or one katana, you're hands are frequently busy. You're attempting to blend the use of jutsus and weapons into one fighting style, which is something almost no one does because of the complexity and time required. Most specify in either weapons, hand-to-hand, or jutsus while maintaining proficiency in all the others. You're already as good as any weapon and taijutsu specialist I know, so it won't be as difficult, but the only way you can pull it off is with seal-less jutsus."

"Okay. So…where do I start?"

"To keep from confusing you, I'm not going to show you _any _hand seals for the lightning element. I want you to focus on moving your chakra around between your hands, colliding it together until you generate a static spark."

Kasei held his two hands out in front of him and concentrated. A faint blue glow slowly appeared, swirling around much like an unfocused Rasengan. Suddenly, there was a slight _crackle _and a spark leapt between his hands. He jerked back in surprise and Naruto roared in laughter when he tripped over a rock and went sprawling, but Kakashi just extended a hand to help him up.

"That was good, much more than I expected in such a short time. Work on that for a few more minutes until you know exactly how you did it while I give Naruto something to do."

He walked off and began talking earnestly with the boy while Kasei resumed his concentration. By the time he had returned, his newest student had managed to create a controlled spark, freely dancing between his fingers.

"So, what did you distract Naruto with?"

"Something similar to what you're doing, actually, except that his element is wind. I'm teaching him to control wind at will, without seals. If the two of you get this, you'll become an almost unstoppable team."

Kasei looked over at Naruto, who was struggling to move a blade of grass with a seal-less puff of wind.

"I hope he has the patience for it. Anyway, what now?"

Kakashi looked at the spark, marveling at how the boy controlled it with such natural instinct.

"Right. Now you need to create an arc: a current of electricity constantly moving from one hand to the other."

Kasei was about to resume his concentration when a loud yell and a sudden _poof _made him jerk back to face Naruto. The boy was surrounded by what had to be at least a thousand clones of himself, each diligently practicing with the wind.

"That kid never ceases to amaze me." Muttered Kakashi. At Kasei's puzzled look, he explained. "He knows that each clone can learn and will return the knowledge to the original when dispersed, so he created as many as he could and set each one to work on it. He'll learn the technique in a small fraction of the time." He gave Kasei a wry glance. "You've got some work to do if you don't want him bragging about beating you for the rest of your life."

Kasei agreed with a grin and focused back on the energy in his hands. Before long, he managed to link the dancing sparks together into a crackling beam. A delighted grin crossed his face and, even beneath his mask, Kakashi's smile was clearly visible.

"Your aptitude for this is…uncanny." The jounin's smile then vanished. "It's not possible to have such an innate understanding of jutsus if not by heritage. Forgive me for asking, but I must know. Who were your parents?"

Kasei's grin also slowly slipped away, but his gaze never strayed from the small energy arc.

"I'm sure you've gathered that they were the source of the Inuzuka/Nara conflict fifteen years ago." Kakashi nodded. "One of the reason that their crime was blown out of proportion was that they were the children of their clan's head. Who are the heads now?"

Kakashi thought for a moment.

"Inuzuka Tsume and Nara Shikaku."

Kasei nodded.

"As I thought. My parents were the sister of Shikaku and the brother of Tsume. They were considered the greatest geniuses in the history of their clans."

"Then that explains it. An understanding of chakra is in your blood. Let us carry on then."

They trained in lighting manipulation for the rest of the day. To Kakashi's astonishment, Kasei progressed from playing with simple sparks to controlling lethal bolts of electricity. Even Naruto eventually took a break from fighting with the wind to watch Kasei work with the energy. As the sun began to set, Kakashi finally called the two in from their training and told them that they were finished for the day. Kasei promised to return the same time the next day (and Naruto promised to come back whether they wanted him to or not), and then vanished in the direction of his apartment. Kakashi waited until the two were out of sight, then made his way to the Hokage tower. The two ANBU guards offered no protest as he walked by. Tsunade was awake at her desk when he came in and she looked up expectantly as he entered.

"Well? How did it all go?"

Kakashi slumped into a chair, shaking his head exhaustedly.

"That is one strange kid we have. To start things off, his element is lightning, of all things."

Tsunade's eyes widened briefly, but then she smiled.

"That makes sense, considering what I've heard and seen of him."

"Yeah, that's what I said, but the level to which it favors him is almost scary. He grasped all the basic exercises in under an hour and was controlling full-scale bolts by the end of today. If he progresses at the same rate tomorrow, he'll have as much control as any lightning user I know of.

Tsunade sat quietly for a moment, a pensive look on her face. Then, slowly, she rose and walked over to the bookshelf along the wall. After a brief search, she brought out an old tome and flipped through the pages quickly. Finally, she slammed it down on the table triumphantly.

"There! I knew I'd seen something like this before. Read this."

Kakashi leaned over and read the small passage she indicated.

"Several times in the history of the ninja, there have been recorded appearances of ninjas with unique controls over the elements. Though they exhibited little skill with all other elements, they displayed unprecedented skill with their primary element. It was said that these so called "elementalists" could control their element with pure thought and it seemed to come alive, as part of them. Elementalists occur only once every few hundred years, with no discernable pattern."

Kakashi sat back with a sigh.

"As if he wasn't strong enough already…once he has full control over this, he'll be unstoppable."

"Hardly unstoppable, but more dangerous than any I've ever. Perhaps even a match for Orochimaru." Mused Tsunade.

Kakashi stood and began to walk to the door, but stopped halfway and looked back.

"On a slightly different note, I've got Naruto working on some seal-less wind jutsus. If we can get him proficient in that and the two of them working well together, then they truly _will _be unstoppable."

With that, he disappeared out the door, leaving the Hokage to think over the new information and how to teach the boy who constantly defied any odds.


	12. Chapter 12

_Chapter 12: The Exam Part One_

Over the next week, Kasei's progress continued to be nothing short of phenomenal. Neither Kakashi nor the Hokage told him their suspicions about what he might be, but knowledge of it made little difference. By the end of the week, Kakashi was sitting at the base of a tree in the training area, reading his book and only occasionally calling out a few tips to Kasei. Even those, the jounin knew, were hardly necessary. For the last two days now, Kasei had begun the morning in the center of a grassy field and scarcely moved more than a few feet in any direction for hours. Instead, he spun and leapt, carried by the lightning and letting it course freely around him. Kakashi had begun reading his book when it became evident that the deadly dance was too fast even for his sharingan to keep track of. As the last day of the week finally came to a close, Kakashi stood and began walking out towards his student. Upon seeing his approach, Kasei came to a halt and turned to face him.

"Alright Kasei, I think it's about time we came to face the facts here." Said Kakashi. "There's really nothing more I can teach you about the use of lightning, or even seal-less jutsus in general. If there are any other jutsus that spark your interest, you can likely find them in the Konoha library, or perhaps in the Hokage's private collection. If you need any help, I'll always be available, but for now I'm going to be spending my time trying to get Naruto at least somewhat proficient in seal-less techniques. I doubt you want him embarrassing you in the chuunin exam, do you?"

Kasei smiled.

"Hardly." He then bowed deeply. "Thank you, Kakashi-sensei. I will try not to disappoint you in the exams."

"Heh, oh I know you won't do that." Laughed Kakashi. "Just try not to destroy the city."

Kasei just laughed.

"So I have the rest of the day to myself?"

"I don't see why not." Replied Kakashi, shrugging. "I'd suggest taking some time off. The first part of the exam is tomorrow, and that one's always rough more mentally than physically. Get some rest."

"I will." Agreed Kasei. "Again, thank you for your help. I'll see you tomorrow."

He walked away, out of the training yard and to his apartment. Once inside, he made sure Caimaru had food, then he shut himself inside his room. With a spark of energy from each finger, he lit the candles and larger fire in the room. Then, reverently almost, he opened a small chest on a table and withdrew a simple seal scroll. He spread it open and looked down at it motionlessly for a moment before slowly drawing a kunai and slitting his thumb. Then, discarding the kunai, he dragged his thumb over the seal. The quiet _poof_ of a summoning followed and several blades of varying lengths appeared on the scroll before Kasei. He lifted the katana from the now blank scroll and examined it closely. To outside appearance, it was a simple warrior's weapon, a cord-wrapped hilt and plain black scabbard. Upon closer examination, however, it could be seen that the _menuki_ ornaments were of solid gold and the tsuba, the hilt guard, was inlaid with thin, intricate designs. Taking a deep breath, Kasei pulled the blade from the lacquered honoki wood scabbard. The firelight glistened off the metal and Kasei let his breath out in a rush.

"Just as I remember…" he murmured to himself. The watered steel flashed, as if in response. Kasei then stood and moved a small table to the center of the room. He laid the kunai used to cut his thumb on the center of the surface and raised the katana in both hands over it. With his eyes closed, he brought the blade down in a great sweep upon the kunai and table. A heavy crash followed, but it was several minutes before he opened his eyes to look at the result. The table had been struck cleanly in half and between the two sections laid the kunai, also in two pieces. Kasei reexamined the katanas edge and found no mark or nick to mar the blade. Satisfied, he sat down and opened a small wooden box. From it, he removed a small cloth ball, filled with a white powder. This he dusted over the blade until both sides were covered in a thin coat of the powder then used a sheet of rice paper to wipe the sword, polishing it. After the blade was clean, he poured a few drops of oil from a small bottle onto the blade and spread it evenly on each side. Then, reverently and without touching the blade, he slid it back into the sheath and placed it on the top of the sword rack he had earlier set in front of the fire. Then he began to repeat the process with the three shorter blades, spending the rest of the night carefully testing and cleaning the weapons.

As the sun came up, a slight sound made Kasei jerk to his feet from his meditative posture in front of the sword rack and spin around, a kunai in hand. He stopped, however, when he saw Naruto standing a few feet away, grinning.

"How the hell did you get in here without setting off any of the alarms I have in the ally outside?" growled Kasei.

Naruto kept grinning.

"I just wanted to try out the new technique I made. Wind Walker no-jutsu!"

Kasei put the kunai away and leaned against the bedpost.

"I'm listening…."

"Once I got farther in seal-less wind manipulation I started thinking about how precisely I could control the wind. I eventually figured out how to control it sort of like the water-walking technique, except that I control the air beneath my feet to let me stand on it. I can fly!!"

Naruto had made the entire speech in perhaps four seconds, but Kasei managed to understand most of it.

"That's impressive. It's good to see you're taking Kakashi's lessons seriously. Now, why are you here?"

Naruto looked over at the clock before answering.

"Because the first part of the chuunin exam starts in an hour! They changed the time to earlier so I came to get you!"

Finally, Kasei nodded.

"Alright, thank you. Just give me a minute."

Unhurriedly, he changed his clothes then turned back to the sword rack and lifted the katana, sliding the blade out a few inches to check it a final time.

"That's different from the katana you had before." Said Naruto in an unusual burst of observation. "The blades pattern is all wavy and stuff. Where'd you get it?"

Kasei resheathed the blade and began to strap it on his back, the hilt over his left shoulder.

"It was my mothers, as was the other blades in this set. I swore to myself not to use them until I could say I was as skilled with them as she was. They're each made of folded steel, over four million layers in each one. The layers create the watered "wavy" pattern, the more folds, the smaller the waves. These blades will cut through almost anything." He gestured to the kunai he had cut the night before, then began to strap on the other blades. The wakizashi, a short sword maybe two-thirds the length of the katana, was fastened upside-down on his back, the hilt over his right hip. The two smallest blades, called yoroi toshis and about half the length of the wakizashi, were attached to each thigh in place of the kunai case, which was relocated to his forearm. Finally, he threw his cloak over it all and turned to Naruto.

"Alright, let's go."

As they walked towards the location of the first exam, Naruto began to pass on the advice Kakashi and Tsunade had given him.

"Kakashi-sensei says we'll probably be two of the most advanced genin there, which is kinda cool, but he says that we still shouldn't let our guard down. Tsunade also said to try not to kill people if we don't have to, since it's not really a fair fight."

Kasei nodded, but said nothing until they reached the exam building. There, they found a crowd of genin from many different villages. He and Naruto made their way to the front of the mass and found two chuunin blocking the door.

"What seems to be the problem here?"

One of the chuunin sneered at him.

"Wrong building, twerp. Get out of here."

"Oh really?" Kasei raised an eyebrow. "Why should I believe you?"

The chuunin sputtered for a minute before roaring, "Because I outrank you, that's why!"

Kasei shook his head.

"I'm afraid that's not good enough. Naruto, would you like the honor?"

Naruto looked confused for a moment before catching on.

"Sure, why not."

Before the two chuunin realized what was happening, Naruto hit both of them with a heavy blast of wind, blowing them back and straight through the door. He then poked his head in the doorway and looked around before yelling back, "This is it." The genin outside all swarmed into what looked like a large classroom. Each one took a seat, all separate from the rest of their team, and the examiner walked in.

"This part of the exam will be written. There will be ten questions, the final of which will be given individually in the back room at the end." A junior examiner walked around, handing out test sheets. "Begin as soon as you are ready."

Kasei looked down at the exam and began filling out the questions, which, to a ninja trained in the Hidden Past, were fairly simplistic. Several minutes in, a sudden commotion made him look up. An unexpected rush of wind had sent several exam papers flying, seemingly an innocent natural occurrence. Kasei, however, noticed that the papers had all landed within visual range of Naruto and the blonde was inconspicuously copying down answers before the papers were retrieved. A few minutes later he sat back, relaxed. Kasei rolled his eyes, though he secretly applauded the boy's ingenuity, and returned to his work. After another twenty minutes, the examiners began calling the genin into a back room one at a time, though none came out. When Kasei was called, he rose silently and walked back. The room had two doors on the opposite wall and only a desk with one examiner at it. As soon as Kasei closed the door behind him, two more ninja, both massive men, stepped into view. The examiner folded his hands in front of him and let a small smile spread over his face.

"Kasei. I've heard much about you. We've been waiting for a ninja with your particular skills."

"We?" asked Kasei with an eyebrow raised. "Who is 'we'?"

"I represent Orochimaru and the Hidden Sound." Said the examiner, then paused as if waiting for a reaction from Kasei. After a moment, when the boy's expression had not changed in the slightest, the man continued. "He sent me to infiltrate this exam and find a few…exemplary candidates. Your record has impressed me, and I've decided to offer you a position among Orochimarus top associates."

"And if I refuse?"

The two giant men stepped forwards menacingly/

"Then we will kill you," said the examiner unconcernedly, "and make up a story for the rest of the city."

Kasei smirked.

"Somehow I doubt it, but very well. I refuse. Come, kill me."

The examiner signaled the men and they started towards Kasei, but halted suddenly. Kasei's hands were pressed back against the wall, and each extended shadow tendrils, connecting to the two men. They struggled vainly to move, but soon gave up. The examiner sneered.

"Very good, but I can still move, and your hands are both busy."

He began to circle around the desk, but Kasei twitched his fingers and both large men moved to intercept the smaller one. In a flurry of movement, the examiner was suddenly pinned helplessly. Kasei looked pityingly at the three helpless men.

"Perhaps you need to rethink your test. Your technique was entirely too basic to be believable. Two huge guards to intimidate slightly at first, then hinted flattery to calm the subject, followed by an offer of great power and finally the 'do or die' threat. Elementary procedure." He released the jutsu and the men collapsed. "If that is all, I'll be leaving."

The examiner managed to nod.

"Through the door on your left." He gasped while attempting to regain his feet.

Kasei swept through the exit without a word. Once in the next room, Naruto bounced up to him excitedly.

"You got through too! Great, now we've only got the second and third exam left! The final question was all that there really was to this exam. The test questions didn't even matter! I think this one was just to test your loyalty and commitment."

Kasei paused, thinking back on the rest of the exam, then nodded in agreement.

"That makes sense, the rest of the exam was just to get our guard down. Clever."

Naruto shrugged.

"Clever unless you've taken the exam before. They always do this. The first questions are irrelevant, and the last one makes or breaks you."

Before they could discuss any more, the sound of glass shattering made them both whirl. Near the now broken window of the room stood a strange woman, dressed in revealing fishnet under a skirt and jacket. Next to Kasei, Naruto groaned in despair.

"Mitarashi Anko." He whispered to Kasei. "She proctored the second part of the exam the last time I took it, too. I think she's insane."

Kasei eyed the examiner while leaning back against the wall, arms crossed.

"Huh. Insane or not, if I didn't have Temari, I'd say she's pretty damn hot."

Naruto looked at Kasei like he was the crazy one, then over at Anko, then back to Kasei.

"Okay actually I have to agree with you there. Funny how she's not a whole lot older than us but was a head chuunin examiner even a few years ago. Orochimaru must be one hell of a teacher."

Kasei's head whipped around.

"She was Orochimaru's student?"

"Yeah. He dumped her when he ran off, but left one of his curse seals on her. She's still a lot like him I think…scary."

"One can hardly blame her." Said Kasei, shaking his head. "Before he went bad, Orochimaru was a great man. I've read a lot on him, and he was supposedly brilliant; a bit creepy and sadistic, but brilliant nonetheless. For her, even if he abandoned her later on, it would be hard not to idolize him."

"I just hope she knows what side she's on." Naruto grumbled.

"I will never serve Orochimaru again." Hissed a voice from next to the pair.

Naruto whipped around to face Anko, though Kasei, who had noticed her approach, didn't move.

"Almost all I know was taught to me by Orochimaru." She continued. "While he became a vile, evil man later on, what he taught me did not decrease in value and I see no reason to abandon intelligent teachings just because they came from a dark source. Now, you both wear Konoha bands, but I haven't seen you around the village. Who are you?"

Naruto grinned and put his hands behind his head.

"You gotta know me, Anko. We did a mission together and everything. You almost killed me the last time I took this exam."

The woman's eyes widened.

"Naruto? Wow, when did you and Jiraiya get back?"

"Nearly a month ago now, actually. I went right off on a mission to Suna to help Gaara, but we've been back for a couple weeks now."

Anko blinked in surprise.

"That was YOU in the Sand village? I didn't realize you were part of the group that was sent. So that means you…" she trailed off, looking at Kasei. "You must be the legendary Ninja of One Hundred Puppets they're all talking about."

"Hardly legendary." Said Kasei with a small laugh. "It wasn't as big a deal as people say."

At this, Anko burst out laughing.

"Not as much as they say? I've heard the specifics from a very reliable source. The rumors aren't exaggerated because they don't NEED to be exaggerated; it's unbelievable enough as it is. You're practically a hero in Suna now, for holding off Sasori to save the Kazekage, _and _for being the one who finally got with Temari." She finished with a smirk.

Kasei looked over at her sharply.

"And what would you know about that?" he growled

"Woah, calm." She laughed. "Temari told me herself. I think we both noticed each other after her first run in the chuunin exam. Kindred spirits, ya know? Both violent women who don't take shit from anyone. Anyway I got a letter from her a couple weeks ago. She was all excited 'cause she'd finally met some wonderful guy who, on top of everything else, could probly kick my ass. Of course, I didn't want to believe a word of it. Jealous maybe." She shot another sly glance at Kasei and saw his slightly confused glance. "Heh, I see you didn't know that little fact. Let's just say your Temari isn't exactly straight as an arrow, if you get my meaning. She and I have had a little fun occasionally."

At this, Naruto's eyes practically bugged out of his head. Kasei's only reaction, however, was a slight raise in his eyebrow.

"Interesting to know. I may have to talk to her the next time I see her about that piece of information. Anyway…"

He was about to continue, but Anko interrupted him.

"That may be sooner than you think, lover boy. She's helping to judge the third part of the exam. Should be pretty interesting to have her watching you…unbiased opinion my ass."

Kasei just rolled his eyes at the strange young woman's ramblings and attempted to restate his question.

"Anyway, I was going to ask if Naruto and I missed anything important you were saying while we were…uh…discussing you. Anything we need to know?"

She shook her head and waved him off.

"Nah, nuthin' big. Naruto knows it all, it's the same as the last time he did it. You get a scroll, other teams get scrolls. Two different ones, get the one you don't have then get to the tower in the center of the training area. Rules: stay alive, killing people is not desirable but certainly not forbidden, get done as fast as you can. Questions?"

Kasei almost laughed at her unconcerned attitude but shook his head. The genin pair followed the jounin out to the training area, where the teams were all given their scrolls. They were each send to separate gates, where they stood waiting for their cue to begin the exam. While they waited, Kasei questioned Naruto.

"Alright, you've done this before. We have the scroll of Earth, so all we have to do is get the scroll of Heaven from another team?"

"Well yeah, but it's not that easy." Naruto tried to explain. "We don't know who has what scroll and even if we find out, they won't want to give their scroll up. Worse, if they see us trying to get their scroll, then they'll know that we have the scroll they need and will try to get ours from us. We're not really supposed to kill anyone, so we need to find a way to just incapacitate them. That'll be harder, 'cause it's always gonna be two on three, since we're one short…we need to think of a plan."

Kasei, meanwhile, had tuned him out after the first two sentences and was looking around.

"Yeah, you do that." He said dismissively to Naruto. "I'll be right back."

"But the-!" Naruto began to protest, but Kasei stepped into a shadow and vanished before he could finish. "-starting bell hasn't rung yet." He finished lamely.

Perhaps a minute later, Kasei reappeared looking extremely satisfied.

"What did you do?" asked Naruto warily.

In response, Kasei pulled something out of his pocket and tossed it to him. Naruto caught it and found himself looking at a scroll of Heaven.

"But…how did you…"

"Part of being a good ninja is being a good thief. You should know that." Explained Kasei. "I just used my shadow shift technique to appear behind another team and picked the pocket of the person with the scroll."

"How did you know which one though? You might have grabbed the wrong scroll."

Kasei winked.

"Deep secrets of the Nara clan, my friend. Lost to them when they kicked my mother out, since she was the only one who knew the technique, and I'll bet they've regretted every day since. It's called the Shadow Sight jutsu, and works a bit like the Shadow Shift. While standing in another shadow, I can see _through _the shadow into another. And since all darkness is essentially shadow, I can see into anywhere that's dark. It lets you see in the dark, too. So I looked straight into their pocket to see the scroll. It's a short range jutsu, but useful."

Naruto shook his head.

"Never show that to Jiraiya. It sounds like the perfect peeping technique for a pervert. Anyway, you should have waited a little longer. It doesn't count since the starting bell hasn't rung yet. In fact, it may even get us disqualified."

"Nah, it'll be fine." Assured Kasei. "Don't worry about it." Beside him suddenly, Caimaru began whining loudly. "What is it?"

The wolfhound pointed with his nose in the direction of another gate and whined again.

"Hmm. It seems that the group I stole from has discovered the theft and decided to check the nearest gates for the perpetrator. I'd say stupid, but they're right." Kasei looked over at Naruto. "Should we just run to the tower, or talk to these guys a bit. I'm fine with either."

Naruto smirked.

"Well if we showed up without getting in any fight at all, people may wonder how we got the scroll. Let's wait for them."

Kasei grinned and sat down, leaning against a boulder to wait. It didn't take long for the angry opposing trio to rush up to their position. Kasei looked up in mock surprise.

"Why, hello there. Can we help you at all?"

Naruto turned away to hide his silent laughter at his teammates performance while the enemy team growled. One of them, a young boy, pushed his way to the front.

"You took our scroll! I picked up your scent, I know you did! It's cheating to take the scroll before the bell!"

Kasei just quirked an eyebrow.

"You're a ninja, kid. Cheating and lying are part of the job. Go find someone else to get scrolls from, don't waste your time here."

The kid growled at him.

"If we beat you now, then we'll get both your scrolls. I don't think that's a waste of time."

Naruto sighed at the boy's antics, though he knew that he himself would have said something very similar just a few years ago.

"Don't try this, kid. You're Konoha ninja as well, so we'll let you go. Kasei here may even point you in the direction of the nearest team with a scroll. Just go."

The kid's friends spread out around him and he set his backpack down, letting a small dog crawl out.

"I think you're the one who should back down. It's four against two, including my dog. Just give us the scrolls and _we'll _let _you _go."

Before either Kasei or Naruto could respond, Caimaru walked out from behind the boulders and barked once at the puppy. With a whimper, it spun and dove back into the knapsack.

"So you're Inuzuka." Said Kasei lazily. "Let me tell you, I know everything there is to know about the Inuzuka relationship with their animals. I know that their pets frequently have better judgment about a situation then they do. Listen to your little friend." The Inuzuka boy still looked ready for a fight, so Kasei finally gave in. "Here, let me do you a favor." He took the Heaven scroll from Naruto and the Earth scroll from his own pocket, then handed them to the shocked boy. "I'm keeping you alive here. With your judgment calls, you'd probably end up attacking a group that would think little of cutting open the three of you and leaving you out for the birds. Now, for future reference…" Kasei vanished, then reappeared behind the boy with a yoroi toshi at the throat of each of his companions. In front of them, Naruto had fired up a Rasengan threateningly. "You should learn to judge your opponents better. None of you would leave this conflict alive if you attacked. You wouldn't last ten seconds. You've got guts kid, but no skills to back them up. Watch it, or you'll start acting like Naruto here. I _still _don't know why he's alive." Naruto grinned sheepishly in response and let the Rasengan disperse. Kasei sheathed his blades with a twirl and reappeared in front if the three. "Now get going. Try to get to the tower as fast as you can. Not everyone's as nice as me."

The genin trio began to dart off into the trees, but the Inuzuka paused for a minute.

"Your dog acts like an Inuzuka pet and you have the clan tattoos, but I've never seen you. Who are you?"

Kasei and Naruto had already begun walking away, but Kasei called back an answer.

"Someday, ask your parents about the Inuzuka/Nara riot fifteen years ago. You'll figure it out."

As soon as the boy had left, Naruto turned on Kasei.

"Why did you give them the scrolls? We were done! We could have set a record for the fastest ever completion of the exam!"

Kasei just laughed.

"Relax. It hasn't even been an hour yet. I wasn't kidding, that kid really does act like you, but his teammates don't have the sense to hold him back. If they'd gone after another group, he might have gotten them killed. We can get another couple scrolls easily enough, preferably from another village."

Naruto nodded.

"Okay, fine. But you better watch yourself. A few more things like that one back there and someone may start thinking you're a nice guy."

"Heh, well I can fix that real fast. Lets go find some innocent rookies to beat the crap out of."

Naruto grinned in response and the two set out.


	13. Chapter 13

_Chapter 13: The Exam Part Two_

Within another hour and a half, Kasei and Naruto stood at the edge of the forest, looking out at the tower.

"Well, there it is." Announced Naruto. "Despite the delay, I still think we've beat everyone here. Anything else you want to do before we go in?"

"Nah," Kasei grinned, "Let's go."

They had taken perhaps five paces forwards when a voice suddenly echoed around them.

"_Rakugosha…"_

In the space of an eye blink, Kasei drew his katana and dropped into a battle-ready crouch. Naruto saw his reaction and drew a kunai, looking around warily.

"What was that?"

"They used to call me that in the Hidden Past. No one would know except-"

"Us." interjected a voice from behind.

Kasei spun quickly. Behind the Konoha ninja stood three ninja. Each was dressed in the classic ninja garb: a black tunic and pants with a hood and half-face mask, leaving just their eyes revealed. Naruto tightened his grip on his weapon.

"Kasei, are these…"

"Ninja of the Hidden Past." Finished Kasei. He looked at the three closely. "But with Hidden Waterfall forehead protectors. You infiltrated the exam?"

"Hardly difficult to do, I assure you." Said one of the ninja. "We have been sent by the village elders to offer you a warning. The secrets of the Past are ours, and ours alone. It has come to our attention that you have begun to tell outside ninja of our secrets. Beware; you escaped us with your life once, though we do not know how. We let you run, believing you harmless to our way of life, but if you continue to reveal our ways, we will not be so merciful. We tell you this once and only once: if you persist, you and all those you teach will be killed. Goodbye, Rakugosha."

With that, the three ninja leapt into the trees and vanished. Only when they were long gone from sight did Kasei slowly abandon his battle stance and sheath his weapon. Naruto watched him for several minutes before finally speaking up.

"What do we do about them?"

Kasei shook his head.

"Nothing at all. If they do not wish to be found, then none of Konoha's agents could do so. They may stay for the third part of the exam, they may not."

"Will you stop teaching people techniques?"

"Hardly. I do not fear them. Even if most of them are too arrogant to believe it, the Past's council knows that a ninja trained in both chakra jutsus and chakra-less techniques is too formidable for any one or even two of them to confront. An assassination mission much larger than that would risk discovery, and the head council of the Hidden Past is not made up of fools. They know that the higher-ranking jounins of the hidden villages can match all but the most highly trained Past ninja. A ninja's power lies in stealth, not direct power. They rarely will carry out a mission that cannot be accomplished swiftly and quietly."

"Sounds sorta wimpy of them if you ask me, refusing to fight directly." Muttered Naruto.

"No. The Hidden Past is a small village, and they do what they must to survive. Perhaps, if they had Konoha's numbers, their tactics would be different. For now…watch every shadow. Be wary."

Without further discussion, the two ninja made their way to the tower. Kasei's mood seemed to lighten as they entered the building and went to the room they were directed to. Inside, they opened the scrolls and before them appeared Anko and Iruka. Both rattled off what appeared to be a prepared speech about passing the test but at the end, Iruka continued.

"Despite having technically passed, there is the matter of some discrepancy at the beginning, or actually before it to be more specific." Naruto groaned as he clarified. "Minutes before the timer began, Kasei used a jutsu to teleport to another team and steal their scroll before they were prepared. I'm sure you know that I would be well within my rights to disqualify you right now, but tell me why you did it first."

Naruto pointed to Kasei, forcing him to give the explanation. The boy sighed.

"Iruka, I believe you are a teacher at the ninja school here?" The teacher nodded. "So I'm sure you know that a ninja's greatest weapons are stealth and deceit, correct?" Again Iruka nodded, warily this time, feeling that he was walking into a trap. Anko however, realized exactly what point Kasei was trying to make and grinned as he continued. "Now truly, under that prime objective of the ninja, I don't believe I did anything wrong. My method accomplished the mission, hurt no one, nor even came close to putting my teammate in danger. It was the quickest and most efficient way of accomplishing the mission and the only reason the target even knew I was there is because he happened to be an Inuzuka, with an extraordinary sense of smell."

Iruka stuttered over several responses before Anko stopped him with applause.

"Very good. That may be the best excuse for cheating that I've ever heard. Congratulations."

Naruto lifted his face from his hands hopefully.

"Does that mean…we're not disqualified?"

"Quite the opposite. By Kasei's logic, you passed this part of the exam with flying colors and demonstrated a more thorough understanding of ninja strategy than anyone else here. Why follow the rules when breaking them accomplishes the job more efficiently? Makes sense to me." Iruka began to protest, but Anko stomped on his foot and smiled at them. "Congratulations, you pass and, as the second team to get in, you have a few days to rest until the others get here."

Kasei began to nod, then suddenly looked up sharply.

"Wait, the second? Who was the first?"

Iruka, having recovered, looked down at the clipboard he was holding.

"A group from the Hidden Waterfall. They got in a few minutes ago without a scratch on them, kind of like you two. Which is impressive, by the way. They're all dressed up like that original ninja look, like kids do for Halloween or something. Crazy Waterfall guys…" he muttered as he walked out. Anko followed, swaying her hips broadly and waving flirtatiously to Kasei. He completely ignored her, however, and spun to Naruto the second they were gone.

"Hidden Waterfall ninja in old fashioned outfits. That must be them."

"But that means…they're staying in the exam!" realized Naruto. "Some people are going to have to fight them in the third part!"

Kasei groaned, but shook his head.

"There's nothing we can do about that. We can only hope that the two of us get paired with them, so they don't slaughter too many rookies."

"W-wait, with _us?_" squeaked Naruto. "You might be fine, but I'm not so confident against them!"

"Wow, that may be the closest thing to fear I've ever heard from you Naruto." Laughed Kasei. "Just keep out of hand to hand combat. Use your wind jutsus to both attack and keep away from him. Use the Rasengan only if you're absolutely sure you can hit him."

Naruto gulped but nodded and the two walked out of the room. A chuunin waiting outside directed them to a pair of small rooms, each with nothing more than a cot and chair, plainly designed for simply waiting. It would be four more days before the exam timer ran out, and those who arrived early could do nothing but wait for the others. After looking around the room for a moment, Kasei settled into a cross-legged position on the floor. Next door, he could hear the sound of Naruto training by himself, but he knew that rest would serve better than a few days of further training. Removing his weapons, he lay them out in front of him before closing his eyes meditatively and tuning out the world, relying on Caimaru's acute senses to warn him if anyone approached. Fortunately, however, no one so much as knocked until the time limit had come to an end.

Four days after Kasei and Naruto had completed the exam, they were called from their rooms to a large chamber. There, a group of genin had assembled, among them the young Konoha trio led by the Inuzuka boy. As soon as everyone had gathered, Anko walked in and stood at the front of the room.

"Well, to everyone here, I'm pleased to say you've all passed this section f the exam!" She waited until the cheers had subsided before continuing. "Now, I'm here to explain the coming situation to you. The third part of the exam consists of a series of duels, in a tournament-like fashion. That will take place in a month, but first we will have preliminary matches. These will reduce your number by half, and only the victorious half will advance to the final matches. Any questions?" The assembled genin were silent, looking nervously about the crowd as if wondering who they would be fighting, though Kasei could see all three of the disguised ninja of the Past glaring straight at him. Anko, however, noticed nothing out of the ordinary. "Good! The matches will commence immediately. Everyone, move to the sidewalls of this room. Your matches will be displayed on the front wall!"

Murmuring amongst themselves, the genin vacated the center floor. The first pairing was called, and Kasei saw one of the Hidden Past ninja step out to face a Rain ninja, but not before shooting an eager glance in Kasei's direction.

"I think I understand now." Kasei murmured to Naruto. "The warning was a distraction, an attempt to bring my guard down a bit and make me think I had more time. They intend to use the final matches of the exam to kill me."

Naruto glared at the Past nin, watching as he bowed to his opponent.

"So what do we do about it?"

"Nothing. Let it play out. I, too, wish to fight them. They are not inexperienced ninja, which means any one of them could have participated in my parents' murder, and all of them likely did. I have a vendetta to carry out."

Naruto clenched his fists and nodded, confirming that if he came against one of the Past ninja, he too would show no mercy. When the two looked back to the match, it was already over. The young rain nin had hardly had time to move before she had been hammered with a dozen strikes and hurled against a far wall. Her unconscious body was carried out while her opponent strode back to his companions, plainly smirking, even beneath his mask.

"Uzumaki Naruto and Sakan Kenji!" came the next call.

Naruto shook hands with Kasei before striding out into the room. His opponent was a hulking Rock nin, who barely grunted to acknowledge him. The judge called out for them to begin, and Naruto instantly crossed his hands into a seal.

"_Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"_

Beside him suddenly appeared two more identical copies of himself and Kasei shook his head in despair, wondering if his companion had truly learned anything from Jiraiya and Kakashi. The Rock nin smirked, equally disdainful, and shifted his hands through a series of seals. A wave of earth rose up and covered Naruto and his clones, effectively trapping them in a bubble of earth. Behind him, Kasei heard a small gasp. He glanced behind him to see Hyuuga Hinata watching the match with her hands clasped over her mouth in worry.

"Hey, I didn't know they let spectators in for this one." Said Kasei as way of greeting.

"They don't, usually." Said Neji, walking in through a doorway. "Being the heir of one of Konoha's most powerful clans, however, has its advantages."

"Then how about you? How did you get in?"

Neji looked at Hinata uncomfortably for a moment before explaining.

"My uncle, her father, is a…harsh man. He does not believe she can protect herself and while she is in line for the position of clan head, her safety cannot be compromised. I'm here as a bodyguard of sorts."

"A plausible excuse, but that's not all of it." Said Kasei skeptically. "Come on, I won't tell anyone."

Now Neji truly ducked his head in embarrassment and spoke in almost a whisper.

"Uncle is considering adopting me and putting me in line as clan head. I'm to accompany her throughout the village and learn how to conduct myself properly."

Kasei glanced over at the Hyuuga girl, who was completely ignoring them and hadn't taken her eyes off Naruto's prison.

"And how is she feeling about this?"

"Actually, she's as happy as I've ever seen her." Said Neji with a small smile. "She will likely be forced into the branch family, but I believe understands what Hiashi, her father, is trying to do. He isn't a bad man, and he truly does care for his daughters, but his position as clan head has made it difficult for him to tend to both them and his people. Though he still pushes Hinata to her limit, trying to make her excel, I believe he's come to accept that a different choice as the next clan head will be best, for both the Hyuugas and his daughter. If Hinata is removed from the line of inheritance, she will be free to live as she likes and be with who she wants." At this, Neji's eyes trailed over to the earth encasing Naruto.

"So, she really likes him, huh?"

"Yes. It's hard to believe that anyone could love a fool like him, but he inspires her. She views his overconfidence and recklessness as strength."

"I suppose it is, in a way. With all he's been through, he could have come out far different."

"True. If only he'll stop being his usual self long enough to notice her." Neji again looked over at the fight. "He's been in there for some time now. Will he be alright?"

Kasei just laughed.

"While training, Kakashi once called Naruto the 'number one ninja at surprising people', and I haven't seen any reason to not believe it yet. He'll get out of there just fine."

As if to confirm Kasei's statement a roar was heard from inside the prison.

_"Oodama Rasengan!"_

The earth bubble practically exploded, sending up a massive cloud of dust and rock fragments. When the mess cleared, Naruto stood in the pile of rubble with an unconcerned smirk on his face. His opponent could only sputter.

"That's not…how did you…"

Naruto's response was a series of kunai. Kenji managed to raise a barrier of black stone in front of him, drawing a short laugh from Neji.

"A earth-type elemental user from the Hidden Rock. How original…"

Naruto's enemy seemed to miss the irony, however, as he raised a complete protective wall all around him.

"You can't touch me, Uzumaki. There's no way through this defense."

"Here it comes…" muttered Kasei.

Naruto grinned wickedly.

"You know what I heard once from a wind user? She said her sensei told her that wind could cut through anything. Now, that's not entirely true, since I've seen some things that can stop it, but against a bunch of rock…"

Naruto swept his hand in front of him, as if brushing away a cobweb. Following his gesture a sudden rush of wind filled the arena and slashes appeared in the so-called ultimate defense. The suddenly useless rubble crashed around his enemy.

"Improve your technique," said Naruto in a low voice, "before you start claiming to have an ultimate defense."

The Rock nin, an intimidating giant of a man, looked down once at his destroyed barrier with wide eyes before raising his hand.

"I, Sakan Kenji, forfeit this match to Uzumaki Naruto."

Before the proctor could say anything, he offered a short bow to Naruto and walked off into the surrounding crowd.

"A surrender to Naruto." Thought Neji out loud. "Possibly the last thing I would have expected."

"Then you haven't seen him fight recently." Said Kasei, though no response was asked for. "With his new control of his wind chakra, even you may consider surrender against him. Don't tell him I said this, but he now has the skills to match his confidence and determination. Don't underestimate him."

Neji nodded, looking at Naruto in a new light, while Hinata practically glowed as Naruto walked towards them, though she ducked her head and blushed when he saw her.

"Hinata! Neji! What are you doing here?"

"W-we came to watch, N-Naruto-kun. That was a-amazing!" she squeaked.

Now it was Naruto's turn to blush,

"Eh, it wasn't that great…"

He was saved further embarrassment by the next announcement.

"Kurnoimi Jemnei against Kasei!"

Kasei's head shot up at that.

"I know that name…"

One of the Hidden Past ninjas stepped out of the crowd and they locked eyes.

"Jemnei…" said Kasei quietly. He motioned for Caimaru to stay back as he walked onto the floor.

Neither of the two competitors gave any acknowledgement as the proctor repeated the rules and only spoke once he had commanded them to begin.

"It's been a long time, Kasei." Said a female voice from beneath the ninja's mask as the two began to circle each other.

"Very." Replied the Hidden Past renegade, too quietly for the audience to hear. "four, maybe five years, was it? And now you come hunting me."

"I have no choice!" the masked girl hissed. "My parents forbid me from associating with you all those years ago, and now I'm under orders. You know our ways, Kasei-kun. Friendships count for nothing when they oppose the village."

"It's Kasei. Just Kasei." He growled back and, though only her eyes could be seen, the hurt on the girl's face was evident. "And they're _your _ways, not mine. Some things are more important than your parents' and the council's approval. They killed my parents, Jemnei, and threatened to do the same to me if I didn't forget everything I knew about them and the outside world. I chose my side when I ran away from there. Do not look for friendship and love from me if you follow their orders. You must choose a side."

The girl had stopped circling and stood still, unshed tears glistening in her eyes, though whether they were for Kasei's pain or her own was unclear. Even the audience was hushed, aware that something more than the fight was going on but unsure just what it was. Finally, Jemnei took a deep breath.

"I don't know…" she whispered.

A voice suddenly sounded from the audience.

_"Kill him!" _

Though Kasei couldn't see the speaker, he knew it to be the leader of the three Past, the one who had yet to fight. When he looked back to Jemnei, he found her looking at him with determined eyes. She withdrew a kusari-gama from her sash and unwound the long chain from the sickle blade, twirling it slowly. With a disappointed sigh, Kasei drew his wakizashi and assumed a ready stance. They stood silently for a moment, each evaluating the other, until suddenly Jemnei moved. Like a striking snake, the weighted chain of her weapon snaked out in an attempt to tangle Kasei's legs. He easily leapt over it and countered with a series of senbon, which she batted aside, before rushing at her. She parried his slash with her sickle and leapt at him in a hail of devastating kicks and strikes. To the outside watchers, even the other ninja of the Past, the fight seemed intricate and deadly, each blow seeming to be barely blocked in time. To Kasei, however, his opponent's moves were skilled, but predictable. Her chain of attacks came with blurring speed but struck at easily deflected angles. His suspicions were confirmed when she ducked under his high kick and swung the chain at him, letting it's length wrap around both of them until it bound them just a few inches from each other.

"I know you're better than this." Kasei whispered fiercely. "What the hell are you doing?"

She looked up at him evenly.

"Choosing a side. Take whatever opening; I know you have at least one right now. Watch out for my companions in the final rounds, they're more deadly than I, and merciless. Goodbye, Kasei-kun."

He looked down at her, suddenly understanding, and nodded imperceptibly.

"Arigato, Jemnei-chan. Farewell."

With that, he struck. Instead of killing her, as she surely believed he would do, he sent an electric shock through the surrounding chain. The sudden charge overloaded her body and she slumped unconsciously against him. Feigning distain, he pushed her away and broke the chains with a single cut of his short sword, letting her fall to the ground. The crowd cheered at what they had believed to be a brilliant fight, but Kasei walked expressionlessly off the floor, acknowledging no one and only making sure the medic-nins attended Jemnei out of the corner of his eye.

"That was so awesome!" cheered Naruto as he came within earshot. "She got you both all tangled up but then _zap!_ You got her!"

Kasei ignored his hyperactive companion and headed for the nearest door, his interest in the matches completely lost. Halfway there, Neji appeared at his side.

"What was that all about?" he asked.

Kasei paused, trying to decide whether to tell him.

"The three Waterfall ninja are actually assassins from the Hidden Past, sent after me." He said finally.

Neji's eyes widened.

"I thought the village threw you out and let you go?"

"I've been telling people that to avoid being hunted as a missing nin…I actually escaped before they could kill me. I was offered the choice to either join the village fully and forsake my parents' memory, or to be killed. I created a third option.

"Alright, so they're here to kill you. The exchange between the two of you was more than simple death threats, though. I could tell that much. Who is she?

"Just another opponent." Said Kasei shortly, but Neji knew better.

"That was an impressive dance you two put on, and it may have fooled everyone watching but you forget; nothing fools my eyes, my friend. Neither she nor you were trying even close to your hardest. Her entanglement of both of you at the end was no accident. I don't know what she said, but it was important. Who is she?"

Kasei halted, staring at the ground from beneath his hood.

"She was one of the few who I could even come to close to counting as a friend in the Hidden Past. We became very close in the few years we knew each other. When I was about thirteen, her parents discovered that she knew me, and forbid her from ever coming near me again. I haven't seen her since…until now. And now she has orders to hunt and kill me."

Neji thought back on the exchange between the two in the arena for a moment.

"But she refused." He realized. "That's why you fought like that, to throw off her companions."

Kasei shook his head.

"I didn't know her choice until that last moment, when she tied us together. I don't think she knew, either, until the last second."

"But that was when it mattered. You inspire great loyalty among your friends. Remember her, Kasei. Friends like her are precious and few."

"I know…I intend to." He bowed briefly. "Thank you, Neji. Go back to your cousin. I have no further taste for this tournament. I'm sure I will see you again before the final exam."

He walked out without another word, his cloak flowing behind him. Neji watched him go for a moment, then turned to look across the room. There, his eyes met briefly with the cold glare of one of the ninja of the Past before the nin vanished into the crowd.


	14. Chapter 14

_Chapter 14: Cats and Dogs_

Dawn the next day found Kasei in training area three, going through a devastating series of kicks and spins against a training post. He was interrupted by a flurry of movement and yelling behind him. When he turned, he saw Naruto pinning a struggling boy to the ground. Caimaru was facing a massive white dog, which, though being much larger than it's challenger, seemed fairly intimidated.

"Damnit Naruto, let me _go! _I wasn't doing anything!"

"Why were you sneaking up on Kasei then, huh?" shot back Naruto.

Kasei sighed, realizing that his peaceful morning had been irreparably destroyed.

"Let him up, Naruto. I'm sure he'll explain better without his face in the grass."

Naruto stood and stepped back from the black-clad boy, who rolled to his feet indignantly. Once he was standing straight again, he glared at Kasei.

"So it's true." He spat. "With those fang tattoos and a loyal dog, you couldn't be anyone else. You're the Inuzuka traitor who dared to come back."

Naruto winced and braced himself, expecting Kasei's usual outburst of anger at the mention of either the Inuzuka or Nara. Instead, he was surprised to hear soft laughter.

"The traitor, huh? That's what the clan's been telling their kids? Of course, it makes sense. I was that horrible two-year old whose parents you banished indefinitely from the village for no reason other than they loved each other. How dare I return. What could I ever have been thinking?"

The Inuzuka boy's face darkened at Kasei's sarcastic reply.

"You disgraced our clan. I should kill you right now for even daring to wear those tattoos."

Kasei just shrugged and gestured over to where their two dogs were facing each other. Both had abandoned their aggressive stances and were now communicating in low growls and whines, an occasional tail wag indicating the amiable nature of the conversation.

"That's the second time in two day's I've run into this. I don't know what it is about the Inuzukas, but it seems that their dogs are always smarter than they themselves are. Attack me if you want, but I don't think Akamaru will help you."

The opposing boy sputtered.

"Wha-how did you know his name?"

"He just told me a second ago. If you were listening to them at all, you'd have heard it. Just like he told me your name is Kiba and you have a tendency to get over excited about everything. Actually, you're a great deal more like Naruto than you'll ever admit, though your survival instincts are a bit better."

Kiba flushed darkly and glared at Akamaru.

"Traitor…" he muttered under his breath.

"Oh, don't blame the dog." Said Kasei. "He's right and you know it. If you'd stop and think about it for just a few minutes, you'd see that this great long Nara/Inuzuka conflict makes no sense. All you do is secretly hate each other, but if some of you actually like the other, then it's a disaster. You're friends with Nara Shikamaru, right?"

"Well I…I mean, sorta, but my mom-"

"Exactly, your mom. I assume she tells you to stay on the professional, comrade level with him only, correct?" Kiba nodded mutely. "Now assume that you became good friends with him at one point and refused to ignore him just because your family said so. Would you deserve to be banished or killed?"

"Of course not, but-"

"Then I fail to see how you can possibly justify hating me." Kasei turned back to the post and resumed his exercises. "Try to kill me if you want. I'm sure your family will be very proud that you've conformed to their mindless hatred."

When nothing came from behind him for several minutes He turned back around to see Kiba standing motionlessly. Finally, the boy nodded reluctantly.

"I think…I see your point. I'm just gonna warn you, if worst comes to worst, I won't side against my clan with you but…just know that I think they're wrong regardless."

Kasei bowed to him.

"That's honestly more that I was expecting so thank you, for your surprising open mindedness."

Kiba just nodded shortly, then wheeled on Naruto.

"As for _you,_" he growled, "If you ever jump me like that again, I'll feed you to Akamaru."

"Sure thing, Kiba." Naruto just grinned unconcernedly.

"Oh and also, Naruto," said Kasei, "thanks for the save there. If he'd managed to sneak up on me, I might have accidentally killed him."

Kiba laughed, thinking he was joking, but his humor faded as he saw neither Kasei nor Naruto were smiling.

"Wait, you were serious?"

"I don't like being surprised. If you were good enough to get close to me undetected, I'd have assumed you were a threat and just killed you."

They all looked at each other in terse silence for a long moment before a loud crash alerted them all. Already despairing of getting any real work done that day, Kasei reluctantly looked over at the source. There, in the middle of the clearing, stood the legendary hermit sage, Jiraiya, on the back of a massive toad.

"Pervy hermit!" yelled Naruto. "What are you doing here?"

"I told you not to call me that, boy!" yelled the sannin indignantly. "Either Jiraiya-sensei, or just Jiraiya if you insist on being informal."

Naruto just wave his protests off.

"Whatever. What do you want?"

"Well, since you asked so nicely, I was sent here by Tsunade herself to have a little chat with our new arrival."

"I'm getting real tired of being called that." Interjected Kasei under his breath.

"It seems that he's gone beyond Kakashi's ability to teach," Jiraiya continued, "and possibly mine as well. But there's still one thing I can show him.

"Which is?"

"Summoning jutsus." Answered Naruto before the sannin could reply.

Jiraiya nodded.

"Exactly. Tell me, Kasei, what do you know of summonings?"

Kasei shrugged.

"I used summoning scrolls to transport all my belongings to Konoha, but I've never summoned an animal, if that's what you mean."

"Good enough. We'll start your education now. Naruto, Kiba, leave."

Naruto glared indignantly.

"Fine, ero-senni, just don't throw him off any cliffs like you did me. He probably has a dozen ways to get out without resorting to summoning."

"Fine." Said Jiraiya, though looking disappointed. "Now get out of here."

The two ran off, followed by Akamaru. Caimaru lay down in the shade to watch the instruction.

"Alright." Jiraiya sighed. "I'm Jiraiya, one of the three sannin and the great Toad Sage of Konoha. You are Kasei, renegade of the Hidden Past and the product of an Inuzuka and Nara marriage. There, introductions made. Now watch this."

He bit his thumb and pressed his hand to the ground. For a brief second, a seal design appeared on the ground around his hand, then vanished in a puff of smoke. In it's place stood a small toad. Then, with a snap of his fingers, he dismissed the toad and looked up at Kasei.

"What I did was used chakra to force open a portal, which took the form of a seal in the ground. This allowed a summoning to pass through."

"Uh okay…so do you want me to try?" asked Kasei.

Jiraiya shook his head.

"No. First, we're going to the Hokage's personal library. Most of the known summoning contracts are held there, except for a few personal ones. I'll wait for you there."

Kasei tried to speak up to stop him but before he could say anything, the sannin summoned another giant toad and rode off towards the Hokage tower. With a sigh, Kasei walked into the nearest large shadow and vanished.

Ten minutes later, Jiraiya walked into the small library, but jerked to a halt in surprise when he saw Kasei sitting in an armchair, reading through the forbidden scroll of seals.

"How did you…" the sannin trailed off as Kasei looked at him with a raised eyebrow.

"Seriously? All you did was ride here on a toad. That cut the time to get here in half, _maybe_. I know dozens of different ways to get here faster then that. Granted, many of them involve incapacitating you and then just walking, but you get my point.

"As if a kid like you could disable me." Harrumphed Jiraiya, then he noticed Kasei's choice of reading material. "Hey! You're not allowed to read that. And we're not looking for those kinds of jutsus, anyway. We need summoning contracts."

Kasei sighed as he put the forbidden scroll away.

"That's what I was trying to tell you about before you ran off on your toad. I already _have _a summoning scroll. My dad had one."

Jiraiya just gaped.

"_Wellll? _Why didn't you say so?! Let's see it."

"Like I said, you ran off too soon." Replied Kasei as he drew a small scroll from a specially made pouch on his belt.

Jiraiya snorted in distain when he saw the size of the scroll.

"You call that a contract?" he motioned to the massive roll on his back. "A contract is a scroll up to a hundred feet long, detailing every aspect of the summoning process and the rights of both the summoned and the summoner. You can't fit all that into that tiny thing."

"One of the very few times I saw him use this summoning, he explained that to me. He said that these creatures are powerful, dignified and highly independent. They will only serve those who they respect, but when they agree, they ask for little more than respect in return. Here." Kasei handed the scroll to the toad sage. "Read it."

With a disdainful look, Jiraiya unrolled the scroll. After the first two lines, the look changed into one of surprise, then to pure incredulity.

"The cat clan? This contract hasn't been seen for a hundred years, and now…your father…" Suddenly he burst into laughter. "He was _Inuzuka! _Countless men scoured the face of the earth for this scroll, but never in their wildest dreams did anyone believe that the key to summoning the cat clan was in the possession of the Inuzukas, the most notorious _**canine**_ users in the world. The irony is _brilliant!_"  
Kasei just grinned as he took the scroll back.

"I actually signed this contract a long time ago. My father intended to teach me to summon just…just before he was killed. I never had the chance to learn afterwards." He looked back up at Jiraiya. "If you can teach me to summon, to bring back one of the few links I have to my parents, you will have my eternal gratitude."

Jiraiya's laughter faded as he realized how important the skill was to the boy.

"Of course, I'll help you learn it. That's why I'm here, remember?" He clapped Kasei on the back. "Come on, back to the training field. I'll have you summoning before the day is out. This time, it's a REAL race."

Both ninjas vanished in a blur.

Fifteen hours hours, twenty-two minutes and forty-three seconds later, Kasei was petting a strange young cat, which wore a black jacket with the Konoha leaf on it and a tanto across her back, while Caimaru sniffed at it curiously. Kasei himself was slumped against a tree, recovering from chakra exhaustion for one of the first times in his life and staring up at the now-starlit sky. Jiraiya, meanwhile, was dancing happily around them.

"I _told _you I could teach you. I'm the greatest summoner ever! Even _Tsunade _will have to admit I did a good job now. Maybe she'll give me a little peepshow now as a reward…"

Kasei threw a rock at him.

"Just…shut up already."

The small cat lifted her head and hissed at the sannin.

"Yes, _please _be quiet. This was my first time being summoned, and I've got a bit of a headache."

The toad sage was so surprised he nearly tripped before recovering his composure.

"A baby summon, eh? Why did they send you?"

The cat hissed at him again.

"I'm two years old, hardly a baby. Daddy appointed me to be Kasei's personal summon. We ninjats are good at stuff like that. Unless we detect the need for someone else when he performs the summoning technique, I'll come to him every time."

Now Kasei looked at the little feline.

"So, say if I'm in the middle of a big fight…"

"Then I'll hardly show up!" she squeaked. "Or at least, not by myself. There's armored lions and such who take care of that messy stuff. I'm too small to be much good in a big fight. I'll only really help out in smaller ones."

"Oh okay…" Then another thought occurred to him. "Hey, do you have a name?"

"Of course I do! I'm Sanera, and don't forget it!"

Jiraiya, whose face had been twisted in confusion until them, suddenly burst in.

"Wait, you called yourself a _ninjat? _Just what the hell is that?"

The cat glared up at him.

"_Surely _you noticed something different about me when I appeared." She stood up on her hind legs, showing that her body structure was designed to allow her to walk bipedal and use her forelegs as arms, as well as on all fours. "See? Ninjat. Ninja-cat. We use weapons, and even a few small jutsus if we need to."

Jiraiya's face lit up.

"Jutsus? Will you show us some?"

"No, I will not."

With that, she crawled up onto Kasei's shoulder and curled up to sleep, somehow miraculously keeping from falling right off. Jiraiya shook his head.

"I hope this was a good idea. If they're all like her, they're feisty little things."

"From what I hear, toads are the same if not worse at first." Said Kasei wryly. "I can't wait for Naruto to meet her."

At this, Jiraiya started laughing again.

"Oh that poor boy. She'll tear him apart before he gets two sentences out."

"Maybe that'll teach him to think a bit more before he talks." Kasei muttered, then finally stood up, Sanera still managing to stay curled on his shoulder. "Thank you for all you've done today, Jiraiya. The cats were some of my father's best friends, and I'm glad I can get to know them better. Maybe I'll see you tomorrow and if not, around the village sometime. Goodnight."

Jiraiya, though truly touched by the boy's earnest gratitude, waved him off casually and said goodbye.

Kasei's second day in the month before the final exam could hardly be more eventful than the first. Sanera introduced him to a few more summonings, including a jet-black panther with an unusual sense of humor for a cat named Yandato, who Kasei took an instant liking to. Out of boredom, he instructed Yandato to jump down on Naruto when the blonde was passing through an alleyway, which both he and the panther thought was hilarious, though Sanera thought it was undignified. Naruto himself was terrified until Kasei dropped down next to him and introduced Yandato. After that, the blonde and the big cat were nearly inseparable as they terrorized the village, pulling prank after prank on unwary victims. Kasei and Sanera watched from a safe distance, laughing at the two troublemakers' antics, as well as their misfortune when an avenging victim caught them. Sometime in the late afternoon a shadow fell over Kasei, who had been dozing atop a building with Sanera in his lap. He jerked to full alertness and looked up at the kunoichi who had disturbed him.

"Sakura? What are you doing up here?"

The girl looked down at him with her arms crossed.

"In case you didn't know, I WORK here. You're on top of the hospital. Tsunade-sama made me one of the head medics after we came back from Suna."

"Oh, so that's where you've been this entire time. Congratulations!" His grin trailed off in the face of her glare. "What'd I do?"

"I've been hearing talk about a kid running around the town all day, terrorizing people with awful pranks and with a cat as an accomplice. Now I see you up here, looking exhausted, with a cat all curled up with you. What do you have to say for yourself?"

Kasei shot to his feet and raised his hands in front of him defensively.

"It wasn't me! Okay, it was my cat, but not this one, and I didn't tell him to! It was-"

"SAKURA-CHAN!" came a voice from behind Sakura. She whirled to see Naruto standing a few feet away with a big black cat at his feet. "Guess what? Kasei can summon cats now! This one's name is Yandato and he's been helping me-" _wham _Naruto went flying to the edge of the roof top.

"It was YOU!" she screeched at the dazed boy.

Yandato shot a worried look at Kasei, who gave him a quick nod. The panther vanished in a puff of smoke back to his home before the medic's wrath could fall on him.

"I've been treating minor injuries from a variety of pranks all day," Sakura continued, "just because you found a new friend to run off and…wait, where'd he go?" She looked around wildly for Yandato.

"You should have listened to Naruto. Yandato's a summoned panther. He can go home whenever he pleases after I've summoned him here." Explained Kasei.

"Wooow, you can summon cats?" cooed Sakura. "Is this one of them? He's so cute!"

She picked up a disgruntled Sanera, who glared up at her.

"I'm a GIRL, thank you very much. I should think a medic would be able to tell the difference. Now please _put me down._"

Sakura let out a small shriek of surprise and dropped Sanera, who immediately scampered up to Kasei's shoulder, where she sat licking a paw indignantly.

"I'm so sorry." Sakura apologized profusely. "I forgot you were a summon and not a normal cat. I mean, I _knew _you were a summon but I didn't _think _about it…I mean-"

"It's quite alright. I just dislike being _manhandled _without permission. I'm Sanera, by the way."

"And I'm Sakura. It won't happen again. Now anyway, as I was saying…" she turned back to yell at Naruto, who was just beginning to recover.

As soon as her back was turned, Kasei quietly slipped away and left the two to their argument. He escaped to a secluded corner of the city and spent of the remainder of the day playing on his small flute, which he hadn't used since traveling to rescue Gaara. The gentle music put both Caimaru and Sanera to sleep in minutes, curled up against each other. He continued playing long into the night.


	15. Chapter 15

_Chapter 15: The Final Exam_

The month before the third test passed quickly. Kasei and Naruto did little but train separately. Naruto worked almost exclusively on his wind control, showing unusual dedication and patience in learning to precisely manipulate each breath of air. Kasei, meanwhile, spent little of his time refining his lightning skills. His innate talent in the area had brought him to the point where every spark would respond to a simple gesture. Instead, he divided his time between his traditional ninja training and perfecting his summoning technique. By the time the week of the exam came around, he could confidently summon any type of cat with just the smallest drop of his own blood and only a split second of concentration. The day before the tournament, the two met again for the first time in weeks.

"So...made any progress?" asked Naruto upon first seeing Kasei.

"A great deal, actually. You?"

"I think so. I've got my wind control down way better, and I've even put a little work into my taijutsu."

"That's good. Well…I suppose we should go in." Kasei gestured up at the huge arena building, which they stood outside of.

Naruto nodded and headed for the large double doors. Kasei followed, Caimaru at his side and Sanera seated upright. It was disconcerting for most people to see a cat sitting upright like a human, but Kasei had gotten used to it after discovering that Sanera acted more human than cat in almost all aspects. She had become a far more friendly companion in the past month as well, though she still retained a bit of her somewhat aloof attitude. She looked around at the building as the two walked in.

"D o you think they made this place big enough?" she asked sarcastically. "It's _huge!"_

"This is actually a fairly important event." Kasei explained to her. "Lords and high ranking officials come from all over to watch this final event, to evaluate which village they will give their business to. Even though a village's greatest power is in it's jounin, the majority of the ninjas being sent on missions are genin and chuunin. That's why people want to see these matches, to evaluate the general strength of each village. I believe both the Kazekage and the Raikage have come to watch as well."

Sanera's eyes widened.

"Wow, it IS a big deal." She muttered as they walked into the arena.

There were nine other genin assembled, including Naruto and the two remaining Past ninja. Kasei took his place in line calmly while Naruto looked around wide-eyed at the spectators.

"This is even more people than the last time I was in this!" he said excitedly. "And that time everyone had wanted to see Sasuke! I wonder where they all came from?"

"Nearly half of them are Sand, both ninja and civilian." Said a voice from behind them. "They all want to see Kasei fight. After all, he's almost a hero there."

The two turned to see Temari leaning casually against her large fan, with the two smaller fans that Kasei had given her in a pair of specially made holsters on her hips. Kasei's face broke into a wide grin and he lowered his hood.

"I was wondering when I'd see you around here."

Temari just laughed, then suddenly dropped her fan and lunged at him. Kasei caught her an pulled into a fierce kiss, bring a surprised murmur from the crowd. The two broke the kiss seconds later, laughing.

"I suppose a contestant kissing a judge is generally frowned upon, right?"

Temari waved the concern off.

"There's four other judges, and at least four of us have to agree in order for someone to pass. No one can complain about it being unfair."

"Oh…well in that case, we're fine." Kasei kissed her again. "Who are the other judges?"

"One from each of the five great shinobi nations. It's to make sure there's no bias against one particular ninja just because most of the judges are from his or her rival nation."

Someone cleared their throat behind her and she spun to see another examiner tapping his foot impatiently.

"Whoops!" she exclaimed. "Looks like I gotta go. I'll see you when it's over. Good luck, not that you'll need it!"

She kissed him once more, than vanished up to the judges' box. The examiner then turned to the contestants.

"Alright, now that you're all here, it's time to begin." He announced. "The rules are simple: if the examiner calls for the match to end, it's over. If a contestant is rendered unconscious or unable to continue fighting, it's over. Death is acceptable, but not preferable. If a contestant forfeits, the match is over. Failure to comply with these rules will result in disqualification. Other than that, fight to win. Move to the observation areas, and I will announce the first match."

The genin all leapt away. Once at the rail, Naruto nudged Kasei.

"That Past ninja has been watching you this entire time." He whispered to him.

Kasei shot a glance across the arena, where he saw the leader of the Past team gazing at him unblinkingly. Kasei held his gaze for a moment then turned back to Naruto.

"If I face him in the arena, I will end this. Jemnei said he is the most dangerous of them, so if you come against him, be careful and hit him with every you have. Try to stay away from him and use ranged wind attacks. If you're forced to get close, just keep dodging until you have a clear shot for the Rasengan. Use clones to keep him guessing."

Naruto nodded.

"Don't worry. If he gets in close, I've got a few new tricks for him. Don't worry about it."

The first match announced was a Mist nin against, surprisingly, the Inuzuka boy who Kasei and Naruto had met in the second trial. As they prepared to fight, Kiba suddenly showed up next to Kasei.

"I heard you ran into Kiso back in the forest." He remarked casually.

"Who?"

Kiba gestured down to the younger Inuzuka.

"Kiso. He's my nephew, my sister Hana's son." He shot a cautious glance around before whispering, "She had a bit of an affair a while back. We don't talk about it much, and no one but her knows who the guy was, but she ended up with Kiso. I've been teaching him everything I can."

"Huh, maybe you can teach him a little restraint. He and his friends almost tried to attack us back in the forest."

"Yeah, he told us the whole story. Said you gave him both the scrolls, too. Thanks for helping him, I guess."

"Not a problem. With a little help, he could turn out to be a pretty good ninja." Kasei looked down at the match, which was now in full swing. Kiso was managing to hold his own fairly well, though it appeared the Mist nin was the more experienced of the two. Then suddenly he spun back to face Kiba. "Wait, your sister's name is _Hana_? What's your mothers name?"

"Uh, Tsume, why?"  
Kasei leaned heavily against the railing of the spectator box.

"They really told you nothing about me except that I was a traitor who shouldn't exist, did they?"

"No not really…"

"I'm your _cousin, _Kiba. My father was your mother's brother!"

Both Kiba and Naruto stared at him, dumbfounded.

"I…wha…I mean, I assumed we were related _somehow_, but direct first cousins? Wow…" The Inuzuka slumped to the floor, leaning against his faithful dog. "Wait, how did you know my sister's name?"

Kasei sat down next to him.

"My father talked about her all the time. He even had a picture he showed me. Said she was amazing with animals, and would be a great asset to the clan some day."

"He was right. She's the best vet in Konoha right now. She can take care of _anything._"

A bell sounded before they could continue. The arena match had ended. To everyone's surprise, Kiso was standing over the beaten form of the Mist nin, battered and barely managing to keep his balance, but obviously the victor.

"Winner: Inuzuka Kiso!" bellowed the examiner.

With a whine, Akamaru stood and leapt down to the boy. Kiso gratefully climbed onto the huge dog's back, who also picked up the puppy in his mouth before leaping back up to Kiba and the others. Once safe, Kiso rolled exhaustedly off the dog's back.

"Kiba!" he gasped. "I did it! I beat him!"

Kiba laughed and ruffled his student's hair.

"Haha that was great! Hey, you remember Kasei, right?"

Kiso opened one eye weakly and looked over.

"Oh, yeah. Grandma said I should keep away from you, but Kiba isn't. Does that make you okay?"

Kasei laughed.

"You'll have to take that one up with your uncle."

As Kiba began to explain the situation to his student, the announcer roared out the next match.

"Oduka Maiburme versus Uzumaki Naruto!"

One of the Hidden Past ninjas eagerly leapt down to the floor. Kasei could tell it was not the leader, but that did not make him less dangerous. He put a hand on Naruto's shoulder.

"Good luck. Remember, ranged attacks are best."

Naruto nodded, then stepped off the platform. To the surprise of the spectators, he calmly walked down, using thin air as easily as stairs. The Past ninja watched him as he reached the arena floor.

"So, one of the traitor's friends. I'd hoped to face him, but I'll take what I can. Let's see what you Konoha "ninja" are capable of."

As soon as the examiner called for the fight to begin, the enemy nin lunged with a pair of sickle-like kamas. Again to the surprise of everyone, Naruto leapt back out of range, stepping lightly a few feet above the ground. He swung his arm, bringing forth a gale of slicing wind, but the target easily avoided it and retaliated with a hail of senbon. Naruto deflected them with another wave of his hand before launching his own counter. For several minutes the two danced around the arena, the Past ninjas throwing skill and Naruto's control of the wind impressing almost everyone to the point of disbelief, but ultimately resulting in a stalemate.

"You might as well come down from there." The Past nin called finally. "It is clear we can only settle this in hand to hand combat."

Naruto studied his opponent carefully, wary of a trap, then suddenly dispelled his wind walking jutsu and dropped to the ground. Back among the observers, Kasei groaned.

"No, you idiot, stay back!"

Kiba looked at him quizzically.

"Why should he stay back? Naruto's forte is close range fighting, I've seen it."

"Not against him…I know what he can do. He's too good."

"Kasei!" Neji suddenly spoke up from a short distance away while walking closer with Hinata and Sakura at his side. "What's he doing?"

"I don't KNOW! I _told _him that they were too good to take on close range."

"Well I hope he's got something in mind, because it's too late to change now." Commented Kiba.

Sure enough, the two were now just a few feet away from each other, the Past nin again wielding his kamas. After a split second attempt at a stare-down, he charged Naruto, blades leading. Naruto leaned back, narrowly avoiding the first slash. He seemed to have abandoned attacking all together and was desperately bobbing back and forth to dodge the flurry of attacks. The entire crowd grew hushed in awe of the attacking nin's blinding speed, and even Kasei began to wonder how much longer Naruto could possibly avoid all those strikes.

"Kasei, does he have a plan in mind?" asked Kiba.

"Well, he sort of seems to be following what I told him, but I said to use _kage bunshins _to help too. I don't really know how he's going to find an opening…"

Before Kasei could figure out what he was planning, however, Naruto struck. As he ducked beneath a kick, the blonde jinchuuriki suddenly seemed to accelerate to triple his original speed. Still crouched on the ground, he spun on one foot and swept his opponents legs from under him. Before the ninja hit the ground, however, Naruto kicked him up into the air while simultaneously creating shadow clones. They each leapt up after the rising enemy, delivering kicks to send him higher.

"_U-zu-ma-ki _ _NARUTO RENDAN!"_

When the Past nin reached the height of his ascent, the real Naruto appeared above him and dealt a devastating kick to his chest. The target shot to the ground impossibly fast and struck the ground with enough power to make the entire stadium shake. Naruto landed and looked down into the crater he had created with a grin.

"Examiner, I think it's over." He called.

Blinking away his shock, the examiner walked over to look down into the crater. Wincing at what he saw, he turned back to the expectant crowd.

"Winner: Uzumaki Naruto!"

The crowd exploded with cheers. Kiba looked over at Kasei, who was staring at the match's result dumbfounded.

"What the hell just happened?"

"I have no idea…"

Neji, however, had been watching the match through his Byakugan.

"Well, you might want to know that just before he began that combo, he focused chakra into his hands and legs and began expelling it a short distance from his body. Though how that helped him move faster and made him stronger I don't know."

Kasei's mouth dropped open as he stared at the waving and grinning blonde.

"What the…that clever little son of a bitch…"

The others looked at him.

"What?"

"Over the last month and a half, Naruto has been practicing controlling his wind element and has managed to become quite skilled at the seal-less manipulation of it." Kasei explained. This alone was enough to shock everyone else into listening closely as he explained. "When he did that combo, he focused small but heavy bursts of air behind his arms and legs to _push _them, making his movements both faster and stronger."

He looked around to be greeted by shocked stares.

"He _WHAT?_ How the hell did an idiot like him come up with that?"

Only Neji seemed to understand.

"Over the last month I've observed Naruto closely and come to realize something. This technique he's created only confirms it. Though he acts foolish and reckless, Naruto may well be a genius in his own right. I've seen him do amazing things…stupid and insane things, but amazing nonetheless."

The blonde himself appeared a moment later.

"Hey guys! Didja see me? How'd I do?" he rambled excitedly.

His questions were greeted by blank stares and slack jaws from everyone around him.

"Uh…what'd I do…"

Finally, Hinata broke the shocked silence by running up to Naruto and throwing her arms around him.

"That was _INCREDIBLE, _Naruto-kun!"

Naruto turned bright red as she hugged him, but was saved further embarrassment when Hinata realized what she had just done. Blushing badly, she released him and backed away.

"I…I…s-sorry I d-didn't mean- _thud_"

The girl fainted dead away and was only saved from falling by Naruto himself, who caught her and lowered her to the ground. When he straightened again, he was still blushing faintly, but forgot it quickly as he was bombarded with questions.

"When did you get that good?" yelled Sakura. "Why didn't you tell me?"

Naruto rubbed his neck nervously, fully expecting to get hit.

"I dunno Sakura-chan…I've been working on that technique all this month…"

He was interrupted by a hand on his shoulder. He turned around to see Neji facing him. Wordlessly, the Hyuuga jounin clasped his hands in front of him and bowed formally.

"For any insults against you in the past, I truly apologize. I believe you are capable of everything you strive for, and more worthy of the title 'ninja' than I."

Naruto just stood speechless, incapable of doing anything but gape as one of his greatest rivals formally acknowledged him. Finally, he managed to find words.

"I…um…" He took a deep breath and composed himself, then returned the bow. "Arigato, Neji."

The group was silent for a long moment, then suddenly burst in to chatter, firing questions back and forth and breaking the solemn moment. The next two matches were called and completed without them even looking up. They only rose when the examiner announced the fifth and final match.

"Kasei verses Ronhim!"

Slowly, Kasei stood and turned to face the arena. The Hidden Past nin, Ronhim, was already standing on the floor, looking up at him.

"Kasei!" whispered Neji urgently. "His chakra flow is nonexistent! Even in the other two, I could see a faint trickle in their system, but he has nothing!"

Kasei nodded.

"That's to be expected. He is a fully trained ninja of the Past, equivalent to a high-level jounin in Konoha. I've heard of him before…he's considered one of the Past's most skilled assassins."

Even Naruto looked up when he heard this.

"Then…what can you do against him?"

Kasei sighed deeply and unfastened his cloak, letting it drop to the floor.

"Show him where my training has led me." He replied shortly.

He closed his eyes and concentrated for a moment. To Neji's all-seeing eyes, his chakra system, which he had been letting run freely, appeared to shut down, drawing in on itself until it was no more than a pinpoint of light deep in his center. Then that too vanished. To everyone else, it just seemed that a bright presence next to them suddenly vanished.

"Was that…"

"Complete chakra suppression." Kasei finished. "I'll meet him on his own grounds. Caimaru, stay. This fight is too much, even for you my friend." The wolfhound whined, but knew his master was right and lowered his head sadly. Kasei turned without another word and leapt from the balcony. He landed near the center of the arena in a crouch, with one hand on the ground in front to keep his balance and the other resting on the hilt of his katana. He stood slowly, drawing the long blade in the same motion, and faced his opponent.

"Are you ready to die, Rakugosha-Kasei?"

Kasei held the curved blade at an angle out to his side.

"I've been ready since you bastards murdered my parents, but it won't happen today."

The wide smirk across Ronhim's face was evident, even beneath his mask.

"We'll see about that."

Kasei's eyes narrowed, but he didn't move.

"Come. I will not attack you. If you're so eager to kill me, then show me you can do it."

With a low growl, the Past nin drew his single ninja-to and rushed him . The crowed, unaware of the personal conflict, roared as their blades clanged together. Kasei immediately found himself on the defensive as the older ninja attacked viciously. Though he used no chakra in his attacks, the man was as agile as any ninja Kasei had ever met and more skilled than any. The shorter blade flickered in and out from all angles as both ninja spun around each other. As the spectators came to realize the skill level at which this fight was taking place, they grew quiet until the only sound that could be heard was the skirl of steel on steel. For a brief moment they broke apart, each leaking a few feet back. The Past nin released a pair of shuriken, but Kasei spun his blade and, in a move none had ever seen before, deflected the weapons directly back at their thrower. Even Ronhim seemed surprise at this and barely managed to flip out of the way.

"You've become skilled, Rakugosha." He hissed. "But not enough!"

He suddenly vanished in a blur of speed and reappeared behind Kasei. Desperately swinging his blade over his shoulder, the boy managed to turn the incoming attack aside, but the parry set him off balance. Ronhim swung twice with lightning precision to each side, bring Kasei's blade out wide, then struck with in a deadly figure eight blur. Kasei cried out and stumbled to one knee, bleeding from a deep slash on his cheek and a puncture wound straight through his thigh. Ronhim kicked his sword out of his hand and stood triumphantly over him.

"Now, Rakugosha," he whispered, "Perhaps, now that I've proved my superiority, I'll let everyone in on our little secret before I execute you, hm?"

Without waiting for an answer, he turned to face the main part of the crowd and the Kage's private box, then made a chilling announcement. "Citizens and ninja of every Hidden Village! My comrades and I do not come from the Hidden Waterfall, but are agents from the Hidden Past!"

At this a murmur of both confusion and surprise swept the stadium. In the Kage's box, the reactions were varied. Tsunade, who had been expecting something like this for a long time, tightened her grip nervously on her chair. The Raikage's eyes widened in surprise and Gaara's eyes did the opposite, narrowing dangerously.

"I've come here for this man, or boy, rather" The Past nin continued. "His parents were foreigners and traitors to the Past, and he fled the village to avoid their punishment. We intended to allow his cowardice, but received word after several years that he had begun spreading the secret techniques of the Past ninja to outsiders. This is punishable by death, and the sentence applies to both the accused and all he has taught! Here in Konoha, the village that originally sent his wretched family to us, I now execute him and all his students!"

Amidst the whispers and gasps of the audience, he turned back to Kasei, who was still on his knees with his head bowed.

"This is the end, scum." Ronhim whispered, raising his sword.

Before he could strike, however, Tsunade stood quickly.

"No matter what his past, Konoha has accepted him and you have no jurisdiction here!" she yelled out, then made a quick movement with her hand.

Four ANBU agents appeared in the arena, as well as Naruto and Neji a moment later. They began to move towards the Past ninja.

"_HOLD!" _growled a voice before they had taken two steps.

Everyone looked back at Kasei, who raised his head to look at Ronhim. Lightning sparked from his fingertips and suddenly arced into his wounds, cauterizing them to stop the bleeding and leaving raw scars in their place.

"He's mine." He snarled, eyes burning angrily.

The Naruto, Neji and the ANBU stepped back, but Ronhim looked at Kasei disdainfully.

"I beat you once just now, and I'll do it again, if need be. Your dishonorable jutsus won't save you. You should have let your friends save you."

Kasei stood, lightning rippling over his body in short, uncontrolled arcs.

"They'd arrest you, throw you in prison or send you back to the Hidden Past. You abandoned any chance for mercy when you threatened my friends."

The Past nin sneered and lunged at Kasei. Instead of dodging, the boy lifted one hand. A bolt of energy leapt from the extended limb and touched his fallen katana a few yards away. In a flash, the weapon vanished and reappeared in his hand just in time to block his enemy's downward slash. Electricity arced between the blades and jolted the Ronhim, but he broke the contact and leapt back before any real damage could be done.

"That's…not possible!" he gasped.

Kasei advanced calmly.

"_Anything _is possible. Believe it."

He swung at his opponent, who blocked and quickly learned not to maintain contact with the blades as another jolt shocked him. Again, he leapt away, but this time Kasei didn't even pause to draw breath. Lightning shimmered around his body and he vanished, just like his katana had, and rematerialized a foot away from the Past nin, who barely managed to block. Kasei face was expressionless as his attacks intensified.

"For threatening innocent bystanders, following unjust orders unquestioningly and excessive cruelty," Kasei hissed, striking faster and faster, "I execute you!" His blade came down in a heavy blow, severing his enemies at the hilt. "In the name of Konoha!"

What happened next was obscured by a blur of motion and the crackle of energy, but when everything stilled, the Past ninja was on his knees and clutching a dozen mortal wounds on his chest. Kasei stood above him, not even breathing heavily. He looked at his enemy for a moment, as if indecisive, then suddenly flicked his wrist. Some of the audience gasped in horror, while others hid their faces to block out the image of the headless corpse. Kasei's friends, however, disregarded the body entirely and rushed to him.

"Kasei, are you alright?"

"We could have helped, why didn't you let us?"

Wordlessly, he turned to face them and they all gasped.

"Your eyes…"

Kasei's eyes remained a piercing green, but his pupil seemed to have warped into a jagged edged eight point star The green hue seemed to have intensified to the point of practically glowing.

"What happened?"

Kasei stumbled forwards.

"I don't…I feel…"

He suddenly passed out completely. Naruto and Neji caught him simultaneously, and Temari, who had leapt down the second the fight had ended, yelled out desperately for a medic. Sakura pushed her aside and forced the boys to lower Kasei to the ground. After inspecting him for any serious external injuries, aside from the wounds he had closed himself, she ordered a pair of junior medics to carry him away to the hospital.


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter 16: The Results 

Days later Kasei woke to quiet voices. Instead of sitting up, however, he remained motionless and kept his eyes closed while maintaining a slightly heavy breathing rate to create the illusion of sleep. Then he began to listen to what was being said.

"…tests came back with incredible results." Said one voice, unknown to him. "The union of the Inuzuka and Nara clans seems to have created an unknown advanced bloodline. He somehow unconsciously awoke it during the fight, but because he didn't know how to control it, it drained him completely."

"How…strange." Came another unknown voice, this one thin and unpleasant. "At first I thought he must have been from my village, run away or…stolen perhaps. No one else but us has that kind of lightning mastery."

"You heard it from the mouth of the Past ninja yourself, Raikage." This voice, Kasei recognized as Gaara's, soft spoken yet commanding. "He came from Konoha and his family was sent to the Hidden Past. He has nothing to do with you."

The unpleasant voice, apparently the Raikage, replied with a slight hint of anger.

"I did not say I thought he was! Merely that it was a…possibility. Regardless, I wish to offer to take the boy and train him myself. Such a great power must be controlled."

A fourth person, clearly distinguishable as Tsunade, broke in.

"That's very generous, Raikage, but it is the boy's choice. In a few months, he will take the jounin exam, along with friend, Naruto. Until then, I want to investigate this new bloodline further. I had believed him to be another elementalist up until now."

Kasei chose this moment to interject.

"Interesting. And when did you plan to tell me about that?"

He opened his eyes just in time to see all the room's occupants jump. Upon seeing him awake, Tsunade immediately rushed over.

"You're awake! How do you feel?"

Kasei sat up slowly, blinking his eyes.

"Surprisingly, not bad. How long was I out?"

"It is noon of the sixth day since the exam." Said Gaara, walking up to the bedside. "It's good to see you again, my friend."

"And you, Kazekage." He looked around at the three Kages and the nurse who stood near the door. "What happened?"

"We're still not entirely sure." Answered Tsunade. "It seems that the fight against the Past ninja triggered…something inside you."

"A new bloodline."

Everyone looked at him in surprise.

"You knew about it?"

"No." Kasei grinned. "I heard you say it just a few minutes ago?"

Tsunade blinked.

"How long were you _awake?_"

"Long enough. Anyway, am I allowed to move, or do I have to stay here longer?"

"We've been waiting for some final tests to come in," answered Gaara, "but they're not on anything vital to your health. I believe both Tsunade and your head medic, Sakura, agreed yesterday that as soon as you woke up you would be fit to leave."

"Well that's good to know." He pushed back the covers of the hospital bed and stood up, swaying slightly before finding his balance. "Why did I pass out?"

"It seemed to be a combination of both physical and chakra exhaustion, which is very strange. The tests we are waiting for will hopefully explain it." answered the nurse in a quiet voice.

Kasei looked over at her, then in surprise at her forehead protector.

"You're a Sand medic?" he asked.

The young nurse blushed.

"H-hai. My name is Chiera. I accompanied Kazekage-sama to watch the exams, and it is my honor to assist you, Kasei-sama." She bowed nervously. "We of Suna still owe you a great debt."

Kasei nodded gratefully to her.

"And it is my honor to be so high in your thoughts. Arigato, Chiera-chan."

The girl blushed even darker and mumbled something incomprehensible before fleeing the room. Gaara looked at Kasei with a rare smile on his face.

"You've made her day now, you know that?"

Kasei looked slightly confused.

"All I did was thank her. I truly am grateful for your people's concern."

"That's how it seems to you. To her, actually talking to her, much less thanking her and paying her a compliment, is practically like sending her flowers and asking her for a date. I suppose you've never been in this situation before, have you?" Kasei shook his head and Gaara's smile widened. "One word. Fangirls. I've had to deal with it ever since you and your friends brought me back and believe me, there are times when I wish you'd left me to the Akatsuki. If you ever come back to Suna, get used to it. You're as much a hero as I am there, and the girls love you."

Kasei looked at the door where Chiera had vanished.

"So she just…"

"Probably went to tell all her friends that you talked to her and thanked her." Kasei groaned and slumped back on the bed, much to Gaara and Tsunade's amusement.

"Not to mention, she did see you when you stood up a moment ago." Tsunade just had to add to the boy's torment. Kasei looked down and realized that he was only wearing his boxers.

"Ah, don't worry." Gaara finally took pity on him. "It could be worse. She's a nice girl, cute and an excellent medic. She'd likely be almost as good as Sakura if she'd had such a skilled teacher."

Tsunade nodded slightly, acknowledging the compliment, and Kasei opened one eye to look at Gaara.

"You know, Temari would probably kill you if she knew you were encouraging me, and then kill me for even considering it."

"I wouldn't be so sure about that." Gaara shot back with a sly grin. "I think she'd only be truly annoyed if you didn't let her join in occasionally."

Kasei let out another groan as he looked around at the Kages in the room.

"Did _everyone _except me know about her crazy side?"

Gaara and Tsunade nodded, grinning wildly, thought the Raikage remained seated and silent, watching Kasei closely. Shaking his head, Kasei finally began to get dressed. After pulling on his clothes, he lifted his katana from its resting place on the table and inspected it.

"Completely unharmed…" he muttered to himself, then looked up at the others. "Did that all really happen, or-"

"It happened." Interrupted Tsunade. "You somehow made that blade…teleport or something to you. We've examined it closely, and there doesn't seem to be any effects on it at all."

"Interesting…"

He strapped the blade back over his shoulder and put the other three into place as well before glancing at Gaara.

"If I step outside, am I going to get mobbed by people?"

"Likely." The Kazekage nodded. "We've kept the fangirls out, but your friends are there. Good luck."

Rolling his eyes, Kasei pulled open the door and stepped out. Instantly, he was surrounded by a small swarm of people.

"Kasei! How are you feeling?"

"What was with you when that match ended?"

"THAT WAS INCREDIBLE! His skill was no match for your power of youth!"

The last comment was, of course, from Rock Lee. Kasei just waited out the barrage of questions until it finally calmed.

"Ok, first of all, I'm feeling fine, but I'm sure Sakura already told you I was alright." The pink haired kunoichi nodded as he continued. "As for the end of the match, I don't think anyone is sure what happened. Tsunade said that they were waiting for some test results to try and understand it."

He avoided any other questions relating to the fight after that and merely told them that they would all have to wait for the test results. Fortunately Naruto, who hadn't been present before, came rushing up with more pressing news.

"Kasei! Finally, you're awake! That took _forever!_"

"Good to see you, too." Said Kasei sarcastically. "Why are you so impatient?"

The blonde sighed in frustration.

"_Only _because they wouldn't give us our exam results until you got better! It's been _days!_"

"Alright, alright." Kasei laughed. "I'm up now. When do we find out?"

"Right now." Came a voice from down the hall.

The friends turned to see the five judges, as well as the examiner, heading towards them. Temari flashed Kasei a grin, but stayed back. The examiner, apparently the decided upon spokesman, stepped forwards.

"Well, here we go. First: Uzumaki Naruto." Naruto stepped forwards, managing to keep quiet but practically bouncing on his heels. "Throughout this exam, you've shown a resourcefulness that by all accounts is…uncanny, coming from you. Your cheating technique during the first part was simple but effective, taking advantage of your skills and the situation. But don't think it was so good that we didn't catch it." Naruto grinned sheepishly. "The second part plainly demonstrated that your skill level is far above that of the average genin, and most chuunins as well. The third part again proved your skills. In your fight in the final tournament, you allowed your opponent to create a sense of security with his own skills before striking with a personalized technique. Temari's proficiency in wind technique allowed to understand how you used it to accelerate your attacks and we have agreed the idea is little but ingenious. For those reasons, the judges have agreed to award you the rank of chuunin. In the Hokage tower, you will find a selection of different vest styles. You may choose one that fits your liking."

Naruto barely managed to contain himself long enough to bob a thankful bow to the examiner and judges before shooting off down the hallway towards the tower. Shaking his head at the boy's overwhelming energy, the examiner looked over at Kasei.

"You don't seem nearly as excited as him."

Kasei rolled his eyes.

_"No one _can be as excited as Naruto. And I guess it's just not as important to me. It's just a ranking. All that is another name."

The examiner looked at him curiously.

"Well I've never heard it put that way, but true, I guess. Anyway. Kasei. Of all the people in this exam, you turned out to be the most interesting. I believe there were only two other people in the first part that actually completed their entire test with their own knowledge. While, as I'm sure you realized, this test was actually to test your information gathering skills, actually managing to complete it is impressive. The second trait showed trait in you that's unusual in many ninja…generosity. You got away with cheating using your own slightly distorted but valid logic, but when the team you stole from confronted you and you realized they would likely be killed if they attacked another team for a scroll, you not only returned their scroll, but also gave them yours in order to minimize the likelihood of them conflicting with an enemy. That's an impressive trait in someone trained to put the mission first. The third exam, however, is where you caught everyone's attention. Your preliminary fight against the first Past ninja was stunning." At this, Kasei shifted uncomfortably but let the man continue. "In the second fight, your opponent defeated you and revealed himself to be an assassin of much greater skill and experience than you. You seemed willing to let him carry out his sentence until it became clear that he intended to execute all you had taught as well. Your drive to protect your friends led you to awake an inner power within you and to try again against him, this time succeeding. That is the kind of passion we need in a ninja, the drive to protect friends and comrades at all costs. For that reason, above all others, the judges have decided to award you the title of chuunin as well. Congratulations."

Kasei bowed to the examiner and managed to straighten before Temari broke out of the judge's formal line and dove at him, kissing him fiercely. The other judges began to wander off, but one stayed behind, his hands thrust into his pockets and watching the other ninja lazily. Finally, Temari broke away and pulled Kasei forwards.

"Kasei-kun, I want you to meet a friend from Konoha who I don't think you've seen yet. He's been showing me around the village while I've been here. Shikamaru, meet Kasei."

Naruto stiffened as he heard the new ninja's name. Shikamaru, however, barely changed expression.

"So you're Kasei? I've heard a lot about you, too much, by now. This woman wouldn't shut up." He gestured to Temari, who just grinned.

The Nara boy's attitude completely threw Kasei off guard.

"Um this may sound weird but why don't you hate me?"

Shikamaru shrugged.

"Hating people is troublesome. Besides, the Nara/Inuzuka fight is stupid and a waste of time."

Kasei looked at him in surprise.

"That could be the most intelligent thing I've heard out of anyone's mouth in a long time. I think I like you."

"If you like a cowardly layabout," Shikamaru leaned back against the wall, "then I guess you would. Temari thought you might."

Kasei glanced back at Temari, who was back talking to the others.

"Speaking of Temari…" he began, but Shikamaru cut him off.

"I don't know what Naruto told you, but there's nothing between us. I have no interest in her beyond friendship and, to be honest, she kinda scares me."

"A short time ago, I would have wondered what could have possibly scared you about her. But now that I've been introduced to her more wild side…I can hardly blame you."

Naruto suddenly reappeared with a massive grin, his new flak vest on over his orange jumpsuit.

"Hey guys! How do I look? Pretty good, right? Right?"

The ninja stared at him blankly, except for Lee.

"You look EXCELLENT!"

"Hah, I knew it! I look great, right guys?"

Everyone shifted their feet awkwardly until Hinata, of all people, took the initiative.

"Natuto-kun...the colors orange and olive green…don't quite work together…"

Naruto's face drooped.

"You think I look bad, Hinata-chan?"

"N-No! Not bad." Stammered Hinata, looking devastated that she had upset Naruto. "Just…uh…"

"She means you look awful!" Sakura jumped in. "If you want to wear that jacket, you need new clothes!"

"New clothes? But this is what I've always had."

"Yes, and it's always been terrible. Even Kasei said so when you first met, remember?"

Naruto looked over at Kasei, who shrugged.

"Hey, don't look at me. I'm no fashion expert. I just said that it sucks as ninja apparel, because it makes it impossible to hide. Leave me out of this."

Sakura let out an angry huff.

"You're hopeless. Come on Hinata, we're taking Naruto shopping."

The two girls each grabbed and arm of the hapless boy and dragged him away, with Neji trailing after. As soon as they had vanished out of sight, Temari turned a malicious smile on Kasei, who took a cautious step back.

"Speaking of shopping…"

Kasei threw his hand up defensively.

"Hey, I don't need new clothes! Black goes with everything!"

"Actually, that's debatable." Said a girl who Kasei hadn't met. "Black goes with everything, but that outfit is almost as out of date as Hyuuga robes."

Kasei quirked an eyebrow at her.

"And you are?"

"Yamanaka Ino. I'm on Shika and Chouji's team!"

The massive boy next to her waved cheerily. Kasei nodded back, then turned his attention back to Ino.

"Interesting, but I don't think I need anything else."

"Yes you do!" chorused Temari and Ino.

Kasei gave the other boys a pleading look, but they just shoot their heads pityingly as he was dragged off.

Two hours later, Kasei stepped out of a dressing room while retying his Konoha band around his arm, his cloak, tunic, and pants having been discarded for an entirely new outfit. He now wore a pair of heavy slate grey cargo pants and a grey chuunin flak vest, slightly modified from the usual Konoha style to have a lower collar and no scroll pockets on the front. He had left the vest open in front, and beneath it was a plain black muscle shirt. Over it was a long, robe-like black coat, with the _myth_ kanji on the back and a voluminous hood thrown back. _(A/N: Like Ed's coat from FMA, except black)_ A pair of half-finger gloves added the final touch, with a small metal plate on the back, much like Kakashi's. The two girls practically squealed when he appeared.

"See?! I so _told _you!" said Ino excitedly. "You were cute before, but you wore that baggy tunic and cloak to cover your body. Now you're just fucking HOT!"

Kasei winced and looked over at Temari, expecting a small outburst. The Sand kunoichi, however, just grinned at him, practically reading his mind. She drifted over closer to him.

"Hey, what can I say? She's right!"

Kasei finally laughed and kissed her.

"Well, just as long as you think so. "

She smirked, then kissed him back harder. Ino watched jealously as what had started as a peck on the lips developed into full-blown making out until a shout interrupted them.

"Hey, you're in a store! Get a room!" Sakura yelled as she, Hinata and Neji approached. Temari broke away and turned to face them.

"Hey, you're back! Where's Naruto?"

The two new arrivals whirled in confusion.

"He was here a minute ago…"

A moment later, Naruto walked up with a sheepish grin.

"Sorry, guys. I saw a weapons display and got a little sidetracked."

"Baka!" Sakura slapped the back of his head. "Whatever, so how do you think we did with him?"

Kasei's two companions looked Naruto up and down. He was dressed in standard ninja attire, his chuunin vest over a dark blue, almost black, shirt and pants. Over it all, however, was a long white coat, just as long as Kasei's, with a slightly flaring bottom decorated with blue flames.

"He…he looks just like pictures of the Fourth Hokage!" stammered Ino. "A couple color changes, but I'd almost swear it was him!"

Sakura smiled proudly.

"We were trying to do that. I've always thought Naruto looked kinda like the Yondaime, so we decided to try it! So, what'd you do to Kasei? Come on, move so we can see him properly."

Temari stepped out from in front of Kasei to give them a good view.

"SO, what do you think?"

Sakura just gaped, temporarily speechless, though Hinata was still too enamored with Naruto to notice.

"Buh….um…wow…" the pink-haired girl managed. "He's-"

"He's fucking HOT!" yelled Ino for the second time that day.

Sakura blushed

"Uh yeah…that."

Kasei blinked and looked around at the three fawning girls.

"Um…I get the feeling that if I stay here any longer I'm gonna get raped. Naruto." The blonde Hokage look-alike glanced up to listen. "Training field in two minutes, you know which one. We need to makes sure these clothes aren't a hindrance. Seeya."

Without waiting for a reply, Kasei vanished into a shadow. A second later, Naruto burst out of the store, carried through the air on invisible wings of wind.


	17. Chapter 17

Chapter 17: Revelations, Jutsus, and the Forest of Death 

Kasei watched as Naruto flew into sight and landed lightly in front of him. He shook his head as the blonde grinned.

"I don't know how you do it. No matter what you wear, you have to find something loud. From orange to bright white and blue. Hardly an improvement."

Naruto just smiled wider.

"I've told you. I'm going to be Hokage soon. When I am, I won't need to hide. Come on, you're the one who wanted this fight. Let's go."

Kasei remained unmoving, though the close observer could see him shift his weight slightly.

"I've been ready since you got here. Whenever you want to start, go for it."

Naruto watched Kasei evenly for a moment, then suddenly put his hands together like he was holding a spinning ball and thrust forwards. A compressed sphere of air shot towards Kasei, but the lightning user rolled out of the way. The ball buried into the ground a few feet away, digging a small crater, and Kasei watched it interestedly.

"That was like your Rasengan." He commented out loud. "You've improved your technique, even in the few days I've been out."

Naruto nodded.

"I've discovered that accelerating air and spinning it takes much less chakra than a pure chakra ball. I've been working on a combination of the two, but no luck yet. This has another advantage though." He began circulating air in each hand. "I can throw it."

With that, he hurled the two small balls. Kasei spun right between the two, then drew his katana and charged. Naruto slashed with strikes of wind until he got close, then drew a kunai and blocked with wind-enhanced speed. Amazingly, he also managed to deflect several follow-up strikes before leaping back to his comfort range. As he landed, Kasei's eyes suddenly narrowed and he grinned viciously. He sheathed his katana and dropped to one knee, then pressed both his hands to the dew-soaked grass. Naruto's eyes widened as he realized what Kasei intended and he leapt up, seconds before his opponent released a powerful blast of electricity, which coursed across the ground to where he had stood an instant before. Kasei stood slowly, still with a smirk on his face, but now Naruto grinned as well.

"Remember earlier when you insisted that white and bright blue couldn't hide anywhere. Well, find me if you can!"

With that, the blonde spun in place and shot straight up. Kasei managed to follow his extreme speed until he finally came to a halt. Then he simply stood in the air, hundreds of feet up. Just before Kasei could wonder what he planned, a cloud slowly drifted by. It enveloped Naruto and the boy completely vanished into it. Cursing at his own stupidity at just _watching _his opponent completely vanish. With a roar, he drew back his arm and swung it forwards, as if throwing a spear. A heavy bolt of lightning leapt from his hand and blasted through the cloud, but struck nothing. He heard faint laughter, then immediately rolled to the side to avoid a hail of tiny, Rasengan-type wind bullets. Suddenly forming an idea, he continued his roll into the shadow of the nearest tree. Up in the air, Naruto was surprised to see Kasei suddenly appear in the shadow he cast on the cloud. Before he could fall, Kasei grabbed the blonde's legs. Naruto's wind walking jutsu didn't have the strength to hold up the two struggling boys and they both plummeted. Eyes wide with fear, Naruto looked up at Kasei, who just grinned.

"I'm ashamed to admit it, but this is a little trick I picked up out of an actual Taijutsu training book." He spun Naruto around and locked his arms and legs around him. "Hayabusa Otoshi!"

At something approaching terminal velocity, Naruto was driven headfirst into the ground, nearly completely absorbing Kasei's impact. Kasei leapt back from Naruto's body, and landed shakily, breathing heavily but unharmed. He eyed Naruto triumphantly until another voice alerted him.

"Damn…remind me not to try that stunt against you again."

Kasei spun around to see Naruto leaning against a tree. In shock, he then whirled back to the body, but it had exploded into smoke.

"Shadow clone." Explained the blonde needlessly. "I made one while you were dodging the Rasengan bullets and left it in the cloud, while I dropped back down."

Kasei shook his head.

"Naruto…you keep being smart like that and I might just have to go all out on you."

Naruto's eyes widened.

"You mean you weren't-"

Before he could finish, a bolt leapt from Kasei's hand to the ground without him giving any warning this time. The electrical arc spread over the wet ground and knocked Naruto off his feet. With a small smile, Kasei walked over to the disorientated boy.

"Some advice: next time you fight me, stay in the air. It's easier to dodge up there."

He extended a hand to Naruto, who took it and climbed to his feet. Even as he stood, both of the newly minted chuunin heard applause. Tsunade was approaching from across the field with a clipboard at her side. She spoke up as she neared the two. That was quite impressive. Naruto, you'd better watch it. You might have competition for Hokage."

Naruto was about to protest, but Kasei shook his head first.

"I have no interest in the position. I could never deal with a desk job." But then he shot Naruto a sly glance. "Maybe head of ANBU."

Tsunade laughed, knowing that if he chose to try, the position was as good as his, then she returned to the business she had come for.

"Kasei, we've gotten the results from your tests back. A certain Sand nurse, I might add, was very reluctant not to give them to you in person." Naruto gave his friend a questioning glance, but he just grinned. "Anyway, as we suspected, you seem to possess a newly created bloodline, or at least, it will be a bloodline once you have a family. It appears," she consulted the clipboard, "that the ability is closely linked to your lightning affinity and, in fact, may be the source of it."

"But what about his eyes!" Butted in Naruto. "We all saw his eyes change. What was that?"

Tsunade glared at him.

"Just let me finish this! We'll get to that." She looked back at Kasei. "_Anyway_, when the bloodline is activated it will enhance your control of the lightning to the point where it will obey your very will. Hence the reason you could do all those things in the fight without truly knowing how. It also almost entirely eliminates your need for chakra in your lightning jutsus."

At this, both Kasei and Naruto stared.

"Wait, _what?! _How-"

"I'M GETTING THERE!" Tsunade roared. "Just shut up and listen." Subdued, the boy's backed off. "Thank you. Now, if you've studied any human biology at all, you'll know that the brain controls the body through tiny electric impulses through the nervous system, correct?" Naruto looked lost, but Kasei nodded. "Now, this bloodline does the strangest thing I've ever seen. Somehow, it manages to tap into this electricity producing ability and _enhance _it. When you use the bloodline, you aren't turning chakra to energy or using chakra to move molecules and create electricity. You're using your body's _own electricity, _only amplified. Now, granted, you still need a small amount of chakra to activate your bloodline and maintain it's activity, but the quantity is almost inconsequential when compared to how much you need to use the lightning now."

Kasei just stared at her for a minute, processing the new information.

"Okay, what's the catch? Nothing like that has no drawbacks."

"Well, aside from the minor chakra consumption, there's an increased rate of fatigue from the added strain on your body to produce electricity."

"Increased by how much?"

"Well, I can't say for sure, but I'd guess it to be around twice your normal rate."

Kasei thought for a moment.

"Alright, that still gives me a day to a day and a half of solid use. That's acceptable. Now, what about the eye change? Does it do anything other than signify the bloodline activation?"

At this, Tsunade put away the clipboard.

"That's for you to tell us. Our tests can't determine whether it does anything or not. Did you see anything when it was activated?"

Kasei shook his head in frustration.

"I hardly remember anything that happened! I don't even think that what I do remember is real. Ronhim hardly looked human…"  
Tsunade looked up sharply.

"Not human? How so?"

Kasei closed his eyes, picturing the image in his head.

"He was…ghostly. Translucent, really. I could see some kind of web-like matrix inside him, with small bursts of light, like sparks, running along it."

The Hokage seemed excited now.

"Kasei, did his body seem to be reacting to the sparks in any way?"

"Uh…now that you mention it, yeah I think he was. If I read how the sparks were traveling, I could predict how he would move." He looked up at Tsunade. "Does that mean something?"

"More than something. That's it! The link between your other abilities and your eyes! If I'm correct, your eyes have an ability similar to the Hyuuga Byakugan but, instead of seeing your opponent's inner chakra coils, I believe you can see their central nervous system! The bloodline also speeds up your reaction time to the point where you can track the electrical impulses from their brain and determine how they will move from how the impulse travels. That puts you a fraction of a second ahead of their movements, which is vital in a fight as I'm sure you know."

Kasei nodded, but Naruto burst in.

"Wait, wait, wait. Are you telling me that, if he learns to use it, he can predict someone's movements even better than what a Sharingan can do?"

Tsunade nodded.

"It seems that way. He may even be able to use his own electricity to disrupt his enemy's movements, confusing they're system. I myself use a technique, the Ranshinshou, which mixes up the signals sent from the brain to the body. If you work on this, however, you can make your control much more precise than mine, disrupting specific parts of the body."

"So really, I could control someone's actions entirely by targeting specific nerves?"

"Most likely. Unfortunately, it seems probable that you will need to make direct physical contact to control their nerve impulses, so you won't be able to make it into another puppeteer technique. Right now, you should just work on learning to activate the technique and seeing the nerves clearly. Then learn to read the electric pulses."

He nodded his head in understanding, then suddenly realized another daunting fact.

"Wait, this is a new, unheard of bloodline. No one can possibly help me activate it, right?"

Tsunade shrugged.

"Well, as I said, this bloodline bears a resemblance to the Byakugan. Perhaps your friend Neji, or maybe even Hinata, could help you activate it and learn to use it clearly."

Before Kasei could respond, he saw a small knot of people approaching the entrance to the training area.

"Well, that looks like Neji now." Said Tsunade. "Along with a few of your other friends. I'll leave you all alone. Don't forget to ask about the bloodline."

With that, she shunshined away. A moment later, the newcomers came within hearing range.

"Was that Tsunade-sama that just left?" asked Sakura. "What did she want?"

Naruto answered excitedly.

"She was telling us about this awesome new bloodline that Kasei apparently has. It's just like yours, Neji and Hinata, except it sees nerves instead of chakra."

"That's…interesting." Neji looked at Kasei curiously. "Would you mind allowing me to study it further?"

Kasei shrugged.

"You can ask as many questions as you like and take however many notes, but I have to figure out how to activate it first. Tsunade said you might be able to help me with that."

"Possibly. If it's as similar to the Byakugan as Naruto thinks, then the activation technique may be similar. When would you like to attempt to learn it?"

Kasei thought for a moment.

"Well, the jounin exam is a short while away, so I'd like to have as much time to work with this as possible."

"Then come to the Hyuuga compound shortly. I'll tell the guards to expect you. I will try to teach you, and hopefully we can enlist the help of Hiashi as well."

With that agreed, the two boys were drawn into the chattering group of friends, who were listening to Naruto's play-by-play account of the fight a few minutes earlier.

"Kasei, did you really almost lose to Naruto?" asked Sakura excitedly.

Kasei turned a glare on Naruto, who quailed and offered a sheepish face.

"Naruto, it was a good fight, regardless of you losing. There's no need for you to exaggerate. And in answer to the question, no, I didn't almost lose."

"Okay, okay." Admitted Naruto. "So I didn't even really come close. It was still cool though!"

Kasei just rolled his eyes.

"Whatever. I'm heading home. I'll see you in a few hours, Neji."  
He began walking off, but was suddenly caught from behind. When he spun, Temari stood there, grinning.

"So…heading over to the Hyuuga complex shortly? Have a little time for me first?"

"To do what?" he gave her a smirk.

She hit him on the shoulder.

"Not _that._" She yelled, then thought better of it. "At least, not now. Save it for tonight. No, I wanted to show you something else, away from the others."

"Alright, where to then?"

"Somewhere far away from people and buildings. I don't quite have this fully under control yet."

Kasei nodded, though his curiosity was mounting by the second.

"Ok, I've got just the place."

She followed him off the training field and out beyond most of the other areas until they came to a chained gate. Temari looked up at it in surprise.

"This is the place?"

They stood at one of the entrances to training area 44, the Forest of Death.

"Yeah. You said you wanted to be far away from people and buildings, and this is as far as you can get while still staying in Konoha. Everyone's scared of it, so no one lives nearby. I kind of liked it though."

He took her hand, then stepped through the gate's shadow. They reappeared a mile into the forest in a small clearing, at the very edge of a titanic tree's shadow.. Kasei looked around, satisfied.

"Well this should be far enough in. I don't think you have any jutsus that could possibly reach the village from here, right?" She nodded. "Good. Now to make sure we're not disturbed…"

He drew a drop of blood from his thumb with a kunai, then formed a quick series of seals and pressed his hand to the ground. Sanera and Yandato appeared in a puff of smoke, along with three other big cats and, surprisingly, Caimaru.

"Woah, so _that's _where you've been!" Exclaimed Kasei. "How did you get there?"

The wolfhound began to whine an answer, but Sanera stepped in first.

"I took him. We got along quite well when you introduced us, and he was lonely while you were injured after the exam, so I brought him along when I returned home. He's been waiting for you to summon one of us so he could come back."

With a happy yelp, Caimaru leapt up at Kasei, nearly knocking his master over.

"Alright, alright!" Kasei laughed. "Good to see you too."

Sanera coughed slightly to remind her summoner that she and her kin were still waiting. Composing himself, Kasei gave instructions.

"Okay, I need you all to spread out. Each of you cover about a half mile in different directions and warn off anyone approaching. Temari has something to show me, and seems afraid of wiping the village off the face of the earth, or something like that, so keep everyone away. Caimaru, you can help if you want."

Each animal acknowledged and sped off, the huge wolfhound opting to accompany Sanera. Once they were out of sight, Kasei turned back to Temari.

"Well, we're about as alone as we can get. Why couldn't anyone else see, anyway?"

Temari blushed faintly.

"Well um…I haven't let anyone else see this, not even my brothers and…um…I dunno what anyone else would think."

"Well, don't worry about it." Kasei gave her a small kiss. "Show me, then I can kill anyone who laughs at it later, deal?"

She laughed nervously and nodded.

"Okay. Step back a little and get somewhere protected. I don't want to hit you."

Kasei moved off to the base of a tree and leapt up to a high branch, leaving her alone in the clearing. For a moment, the girl stood motionlessly with her eyes closed. Then, slowly, her hands dropped to her sides and she withdrew her two small fans. Bringing them each out to the side, she again held still briefly, then sprang into motion. With a flick of her wrist, she snapped open the fans and instantly went into a dizzying spin. Her movement brought up a heavy gust of wind and leaves. Through the sudden vortex, Kasei managed to make out the outline of her body and was awed by what he saw. While maintaining the balance needed for the precise spin, her arms were gyrating in an intricate pattern. The fans crossed and dipped around each other as she sped up her rotation. Then, as Kasei watched, she abruptly froze. He realized why she had warned him to take cover as the air collected around her exploded outwards, filling the clearing with a small hurricane. In the midst of the gale, however, Temari resumed her routine. Abandoning the spin, she swung her weapons elegantly in front of her. Even while attacking, however, her body never ceased to move. Her leaps and turns perfectly evaded her imaginary opponent and brought her in line for another flurry of seamless attacks. As time wore on, Kasei finally saw her goal. A massive tree in front of her had suffered countless small slashes and was beginning to lean. The continuous stream of attacks cut deeper and deeper into the trunk until it finally broke and began to fall. Before it could strike the ground, however, Temari leapt into the air and spun around one final time while bringing both her fans down in a sweeping arc in its direction. A colossal gust of wind smashed into the tree and cleanly split it in half before hurling it off into the distance. The kunoichi landed in a crouch, both fans held off to her left, ready to swing. Slowly, she stood and refolded her fans. She had just stowed them when Kasei appeared in front of her and pulled her into a crushing kiss, which she returned full-heartedly.

"That was incredible! What was that?" he gasped, as soon as they broke apart.

"I made it." She grinned excitedly. "_Chiboufuu no Mai. _Dance of One Thousand Storms. You liked it?"

"It was amazing…and beautiful. Where'd you get the idea for it? Why don't you want anyone to see that?"

Temari threw her arms around his neck and kissed him lightly.

"You. You told me to learn to dance. A dance is hundreds of thousands of small movements all blended into one, so I made a technique like that. The initial storm is to throw them off balance, then I use a thousand small cuts to wear down their defense, all the while staying in motion to avoid being hit. They can block a dozen, or even a few hundred of them, but never all of them. I'm just afraid the others might think it's weird…it seems kinda girly for me."

Kasei looked down at her in wonder.

"You're incredible, you know that?"

In response, she stepped back and pulled him along until her back was up against a tree and he was against her.

"You tell me that a lot." She whispered. "Why don't you show me. Forget waiting until tonight."

She ground her hips against his and kissed him fiercely. Their breathing began to quicken as he reached down and pulled her dress up until he was grinding against her bare legs and wet opening. With a moan, she anxiously worked off his vest and shirt, then unfastened his belt and pushed down his pants until his full erection was released. He pressed her back against the tree and lifted her, hooking his arms under her legs, before thrusting up into her. The girl let out a loud moan at his entrance and wrapped her arms around him, pulling him closer as he drove in and out.

"Oh god, I've missed this…" she whimpered.

Her lover could only grunt in response, the feeling of her tight pussy wrapped around his cock nearly overwhelming. She screamed as he thrust again, barely aware of the rough bark of the tree biting into her back and only feeling him inside her. His powerful thrusts lifted her up and down, shaking her entire body until her sash came free and her kimono fell open. Kasei dipped his head and caught one of her bouncing breasts in his mouth, flicking over her nipple with his tongue until she screamed out again.

"_Kasei! YES!"_

She clenched around him tightly as his cock sank in.

"Temari…oh fuck, I'm gonna…I'm-"

"Do it." She moaned, her back arched in pure pleasure. "Cum in me!"

With a cry, he drove in as deeply as he could and came hard. The feeling drove the girl wild, and she fell into her own climax seconds later.

"KASEI!"

Her screams, mingled with his muted cries, echoed around the clearing until they finally sank to the forest floor. Kasei slumped to his back with Temari straddling him, his cock still buried in her.

"Oh…that was good."

"Mm, yeah. I've been wanting that again ever since you left Suna."

The Sand girl kissed him hard, then stood up over him, her kimono still hanging open. Kasei looked up at her.

"Hmm, I think I like the view from down here."

Temari just grinned down at him and put a hand on her hip.

"Glad you like it, 'cause you're the only guy who'll ever see it."

Kasei laughed, then stood up and began to pull together his clothes. Temari looked at him with a pout.

"Aw, going already? We could stay here a little more."

Her boyfriend turned back to face her while pulling on his coat, then stepped over and kissed her.

"As much as I'd love to, I've got to go. I'm due to work with Neji in less than an hour. I need to get home and clean up first."

He let out a sharp whistle and, moments later, Caimaru and the summons reappeared.

"Good job. You can go back now, if you wish."

Yandato and the three unknown cats vanished, but Sanera stayed behind with Caimaru.

"You know, I feel that I must point out your state of undress." The cat said to Temari. "Among felines, it's hardly strange, but I've been taught that it's indecent among humans to display yourself in such a manner."

Temari blushed as she realized her kimono still hung open. Kasei, of course, found it hilarious.

"Yes, Temari." He said, mocking the cat's prim tone. "Please _do _cover yourself."

She shot him a vicious glare, but rewound her sash and secured her kimono. Then she and Kasei slowly began walking out of the forest, followed by Sanera riding on Caimaru's back.


	18. Chapter 18

Chapter 18: Kekkei Genkai 

The two Hyuuga guards stepped aside and opened the main gate. As Kasei walked in, the portal swung shut again behind him. He made his way down the center pathway to the largest building in the Hyuuga compound, where he found Neji waiting.

"Ah, there you are. I was wondering when you would arrive."

"Sorry, I was a bit…delayed at home. Thank you again, for taking the time to do this."

Neji opened the door behind him and gestured for him to follow.

"Not at all. Hiashi-sama agreed that the development of a new doujutsu in Konoha is well worth looking into. He's waiting in the training courtyard for us."

The two ninja made their way through the numerous hallways of the building until they came to a central courtyard. There waited a tall, sharp-featured man.

"Greetings, Kasei-san. I am Hyuuga Hiashi, head of the Hyuuga clan.

Kasei bowed respectfully.

"I'm honored, Hiashi-dono. Thank you for taking the time to see me."

"Please, that is hardly necessary. I'm greatly interested by this new bloodline, which Neji tells me may be very similar to our own."

"Similar, yet very different I believe. Though I have yet to truly determine the extent of its capabilities."

Hiashi nodded.

"But that is what we intend to help you with. Come, let us begin."

Over an hour later, Kasei sat cross-legged in front of the two Hyuugas.

"So you still feel nothing?" asked Neji.

Kasei shook his head.

"I'm focusing the chakra just as you said, but it doesn't seem to be touching that internal 'trigger' that you say should be there. I can't find it."

The family members conferred quietly for a moment before looking back to Kasei.

"Perhaps a different technique is required then."

Kasei had scarcely opened his mouth to respond before Neji thrust his open palm at him.

"_Hakke Kuushou!"_

An invisible blast of chakra struck Kasei in the chest, knocking him over and back. The targeted boy rolled over to his feet and crouched in a ready stance.

"What the hell was that for?"

"I said a different technique was required. This is it."

The two Hyuugas spread out and faced him.

"What, killing me?"

"No. Just forcing the bloodline to activate."

Neji rushed at him, but Kasei weaved through the attacks and struck the jounin in the chest, knocking him away.

"This won't help! If I know I'm not going to be killed, then it will hardly be the same as the reaction in a life or death situation."

"Wrong." This time Hiashi answered. "You know that you won't be killed, but your body doesn't. It's instinctive response to save your live should be the same."

He came at Kasei in a skillful blur and Kasei soon found himself dodging desperately, the Hyuuga head's attacks far more complex than his nephews.

"But this won't work anyway!" managed Kasei. "I can just stop my chakra flow and the Juuken strikes won't be effective!"

"Foolish boy." Hiashi suddenly spun into the Kaiten. The whirlwind knocked Kasei into the air, just in time to meet Neji's next chakra blast. "Did you think the Juuken technique was the only power of the Hyuugas? We are Konoha's strongest!"

The heavy blast blew Kasei through the nearest wall. When he looked up from where he had landed, he saw Hinata sitting on a bed, looking terrified.

"A-are you okay, Kasei-kun?"

"Oh, I'm just great." With a growl, he managed to rise to one knee. "Sorry about your wall. Blame your cousin."

He stood and looked out through the hole in the wall, where Hiashi and Neji stood watching.

"Alright, now I'm pissed."

He clapped both hands together, then thrust them forwards. A bolt of lightning leapt from his palms towards the Hyuugas, but each managed to deflect it using their Kaiten.

"You've reactivated your chakra, Kasei." Called Neji. "While you use it, do not forget that you're vulnerable to the Juuken."

"How could I forget?" he muttered to himself, then drew his katana and dove through the nearest shadow in a blur. As soon as he reappeared in the courtyard, however, Hiashi was on him, with Neji close behind. He managed to deflect Neji's Hakke Hyakunijuuhachishou, but the effort left him off balance and in that moment, Hiashi slipped in. His strike connected solidly with the left side of Kasei's chest. With a gasp of pain Kasei staggered back, clutching his side and gasping for breath. Hiashi watched him dispassionately.

"You can't beat us, Kasei. Neji alone, certainly, and you'd do well against me at the very least, but not together. You have only one recourse."

Teeth gritted in pain, Kasei glared at him.

"I've been _trying_. I told you, this won't work."

"It will. Of that, I have no doubt."

Kasei snarled, then dropped his katana and pressed both his hands to the ground. Shadow tendrils stretched from each finger, reaching for the Hyuugas, but they leapt back to the edge of the house, out of range. Before they had even finished moving, however, Kasei let out a sharp whistle. From the rooftop dropped two dark shapes. With a thud, Caimaru landed on Neji and knocked him to the ground. Before he could move, Sanera's tanto was at his throat.

"Don't move, white-eyes." She hissed. "Now it's one on one, as fair a fight as it can be."

Hiashi looked over at his fallen nephew in surprise.

"Despite all that, you still had something in reserve. I'm impressed."

"I'm just getting started."

The Hyuuga head barely had time to react before Kasei reached him. The boy had abandoned his sword, but Hiashi soon realized that he hardly needed the weapon. While desperately avoiding Kasei's strange style of attack, he managed to start the Kaiten again, meaning to give himself a brief respite, but this time Kasei saw it coming. He focused a massive amount of chakra to each of his tenketsus and released it just as the Kaiten formed. The result was a concussive blast that knocked both opponents to opposite ends of the courtyard. Gasping for breath, each glared at the other.

"Are you done with this? All it will result in is the destruction of more of your property."

Hiashi managed a nod.

"Alright, we're done. Clearly there's something we're missing."

Kasei whistled and Caimaru released Neji, then loped over to his master.

Sanera shook her head as she sheathed her tanto.

"Disgraceful, two on one. And I always heard the Hyuugas were honorable." She mewed.

"They were just trying to help, Sanera."

She sniffed haughtily and walked away from the downed Hyuuga boy. Neji and Hiashi, who had just truly noticed the strange bipedal cat, stared as she sat down and made herself comfortable leaning against Caimaru.

"A cat summon? I thought the contract was lost."

Kasei stretched out his arms.

"No. The Inuzukas had it, though few of them could use it. My dad took the scroll when he left. Anyway, what now?"

Shaking his head in defeat, Hiashi sat down next to his nephew.

"I don't know. We've tried everything I can think of. Do you have any ideas?"

Kasei didn't respond, but a soft voice did.

"I think I do."

Hinata was standing in the hole created in her wall, wringing her hands nervously. Hiashi looked at her sharply.

"What could you possibly have seen that Neji and I missed? Out with it, girl!"

The heiress paled even further and her stammer increased.

"W-well, I w-was watching when Kasei reactivated his ch-chakra. I m-mean no disrespect, oto-sama, but I think you are missing one of the Hyuuga's main ideals."

Hiashi's face darkened angrily as he stood back up.

"And what could that be?"

"P-power is not in s-strength. The Juuken is the gentle fist technique b-because it does damage by barely touching the target. When Kasei r-reactivated his chakra, I think I saw his eyes almost change when the first drop of energy touched them, b-but it faded as the rest of his chakra flowed through."

Hiashi's expression changed from anger and impatience to nearly shocked. Neji sat up as he realized what she was trying to say.

"So the key to his eyes isn't forcing chakra into them, it's just a gentle push?"

Hinata nodded quickly.

"Hai. The bloodline apparently will a-activate under emotional duress, such as the chuunin exam, but the only way t-to activate it voluntarily is to use the tiniest amount of chakra. Any more, and it overwhelms it, and begins to force a change."

"A change? What do you mean?"

"I d-don't know. Before your chakra evened out, a great deal if it spiked to your head and eyes. For a brief second I saw s-something begin to shift, but then it vanished."

"So there may be a second stage to his bloodline. Interesting…what do you think, uncle? …uncle?"

Hiashi didn't respond. For a long moment, he just stared at his oldest daughter with an unreadable expression. Then, slowly, he sank to his knees and held out his arms to her.

"Please…come here, Hinata-chan."

Hesitantly, she approached her father. Once she came close enough, to everyone's surprise, he wrapped his arms around her.

"All these years…we did not understand…"

Hinata, though she looked distinctly less scared, seemed completely confused.

"Oto-sama…what is it?"

He didn't reply, but stood and put a hand on her shoulder.

"Follow me. There's something I want to show you."

Neji and Kasei watched the two of them leave.

"Uh…what was that all about?"

"I have no idea, but it seems that something Hinata said made him realize something. I'm sure we'll find out soon enough. Let's try out her theory." Said Neji, climbing back to his feet.

Kasei nodded, then closed his eyes, pulling all of his chakra back into himself. When he appeared entirely empty to Neji's Byakugan, he released the barest trickle. Neji watched it as it slowly made it's way to his head, then split along two pathways to his eyes. For a moment nothing happened, then his eyes suddenly blazed green.

"Woah." Kasei wavered on his feet. "That feels weird. What happened?"

Neji helped his friend sit before he fell over.

"The chakra ignited something in your eyes. They suddenly began emitting a strange green chakra, though darker then that Shousen." He deactivated his Byakugan and looked at Kasei in the normal spectrum. "The glow is visible from your iris, even without the Byakugan, and your pupil changed shape. What do you see?"

Kasei examined the courtyard through his newfound perspective.

"It's strange…everything is different colors and patterns, like using infrared goggles, except for when I come to an animal." He looked up at Neji. "You look ghostly, like I'm seeing through you. I can see every nerve in your system, and the impulses traveling to each."

Neji switched back to his own bloodline, and used the telescopic x-ray capability it gave him to closely examine the workings of Kasei's eye.

"Interesting. Your eye seems to be producing that green chakra itself. Your small amount of normal chakra serves as a catalyst, or a fuel of some sort, used to maintain the generation of new chakra. And Hinata seems to have been right in the second part as well. There appears to be an unused channel that may enable a second stage of the bloodline. A sudden influx of chakra will likely activate it. Care to try?"

Kasei stood shakily as he adjusted to the spectrum change.

"Uh sure, I don't see why not. Get back, we don't know what this could do."

Neji stepped away while Kasei concentrated. He built up a concentrated mass of chakra just behind his eyes, then suddenly forced forwards all at once. Neji saw the core of his eyes flare in a sudden burst of the green chakra. The overwhelming amount escaped down the empty channel and burst into the rest of his body, flooding not only his chakra coils, but every part of him. Neji narrowed his eyes, trying to reduce the sudden blinding glare of the strange chakra. Despite that, he still managed to make out the green glow collecting, moving into its host's right arm. Kasei let out a cry of pain as the substance condensed all into the one arm and Neji dropped his bloodline in concern.

"What is it? Are you alright?"

Kasei gritted his teeth and shrugged off his coat.

"Fuck, that hurts…" he hissed.

The green chakra was emanating from his arm, surrounding it in an emerald glow. Then, slowly, the glow separated and narrowed into intricate lines, which then faded. In its place was a deep green design, wrapping around his entire forearm to his elbow. After a moment, the pain subsided and Kasei looked at the tattoo like remain.

"What the hell…?"

Neji switched on his Byakugan to examine it, but then shut it off just as quickly.

"When you fed the normal chakra to your eyes, it produced a massive amount of the new green chakra, which spread to fill your entire body. Then it all condensed and moved into your arm before beginning to…burn through it appears."

Kasei rubbed his arm, then winced as the contact created a sharp pain.

"Whatever it did, I'm not going to try it out now. There's too much energy to use without knowing what might happen. I'm going to take this to Tsunade."

"Very well. I'll see you in the morning, my friend."

"Good night. And thank you for your help. Tell the same to your uncle and cousin when you get the chance."

"I'll be sure to. Goodnight, Kasei."

Kasei stepped into the darkness along with his dog and summon, vanishing as usual. He reappeared outside the Hokage tower and strode purposefully inside. The ANBU guards stepped aside to let him past, clearly having been warned to not hinder him in any way. At a slightly open door, however, he paused. Inside, he could make out Hinata and her father reading furiously through a towering pile of books. He managed to refrain on interrupting and continued to the Hokage's office. Tsunade was awake inside and appeared to be expecting him.

"Ah, I was wondering when I'd see you."

"Oh really? Why's that?"

Tsunade opened a desk drawer and withdrew a bottle of sake.

"Hyuuga Hiashi mentioned that you might have had a breakthrough. I assumed that you'd come by as soon as you found something. Well?"

Kasei sat down and made himself comfortable before responding.

"I've got it. It was Hinata who figured it out actually, and somehow that sparked off whatever Hiashi is looking for."

"I was wondering why he was so eager for his clan's histories all the sudden." She murmured. "Anyway, carry on."

"You were right about part of it. The bloodline allows me to see the nervous system and interpret the electric impulses. Oddly enough, it also converts my vision to a spectrum similar to infrared when not looking at a living being. I don't have any idea what the second stage could possibly do."

"There's a second?" Tsunade sat up, suddenly very interested.

"Yeah. Neji inspected my eye through his Byakugan and discovered that in uses a small amount of my chakra to create a strange new dark green chakra. If I force a large amount of my chakra at once into the eye with the first stage already activated, then it converts it all at once and pushes it through a passage, which is apparently explicitly for that purpose. When I did this, the passage spread the new chakra throughout my entire body, and then compacted all into one arm. The result was this.

He pulled back his sleeve to show his arm. Tsunade's eyes widened at the sight of the green flame-like pattern tracing up the limb.

"This was a result of the green chakra?"

"As far as we could tell. It's not really a tattoo design…more like a burn actually. The green chakra burned out of my arm and engraved this pattern."

Tsunade inspected the design closely before suddenly coming to a strange conclusion.

"I've seen something like this before! I practically _created _something like this!" Kasei looked up sharply. "The diamond tattoo I have is actually an _Infuuin_, which I use to store massive amounts of chakra for my Souzou Saisei technique. The markings on your arm look very similar to the way the _Infuuin _looks when activated. I can only assume that means that your entire arm has been converted into a storage area for this green chakra."

"But what's the point of that? The first stage already uses almost no chakra, so it's pointless to have a reserve of it. What would I need this for?" Tsunade shook her head.

"I don't know, but I'm sure you can figure something out. Is there anything else?"

"Yeah, what the hell is Hiashi up to?"

The man himself spoke as he entered the office, followed by his daughter.

"You should ask me yourself, Kasei, but I will tell you anyway. My daughter has been helping me reclaim my family's traditional heritage."

Even Tsunade was surprised at this.

"What do you mean? The Hyuuga way of life has remained unchanged for generations, before they even came to Konoha!"

"Yes, but we were not always that way. I and many family heads before me have been mystified by writings in our historical texts. The oldest manuscripts have always insisted that the Byakugan is not a weapon, and our fine skill with chakra is not meant to kill. As far as I knew, the Hyuugas had always been warriors, so this made no sense to me. It took my daughter to explain this to me. Hinata-chan, if you please."

"H-Hai!" The heiress stuttered at first, but her confidence grew. "If examined closely, the Hyuuga bloodline and natural chakra precision makes for the perfect medic, the _opposite _of what we've been doing. The gentle fist style is gentle for a reason, and was historically utilized as sparring skill, without the chakra attacks and only to display skill and speed. It's conversion into a true weapon came with the evolution of the Sharingan!"

"The Sharingan?" asked Kasei. "What does that have to do with it?"

Tsunade explained.

"The Sharingan is believed to have evolved from the Byakugan. They are similar in structure, though their use is exceedingly different."

"Hai, the Sharingan is a mutation of sorts." Continued Hinata. "As the Byakugan is perfectly suited for medicine, the Sharingan is the perfect weapon of war."

"Even if we haven't always been warriors, we have always been a proud family." Hiashi stepped in. "We were traditionally medics, but the Uchinas insisted they were superior and sought to outdo us, even going so far as to insist on duels or attack us. Eventually, it led to war."

"I see. So the Juuken was developed to defend yourselves?"

"Yes, and it worked too well. Hinata and I discovered that we were victorious in the war between our clans, but the new way of violence appealed to too many of our clan. Eventually, all our devotion to healing was forgotten in this new rush of power."

"Interesting…but what are you going to do with this information?" asked Tsunade.

"Change the clan." Hinata spoke up, a surprising amount of confidence in her voice. "Our skills can be put to better use than on the battlefield."

"And that is why we're here." Continued Hiashi. "Hokage-sama, I request that all Hyuuga ninja on active duty be removed temporarily."

Tsunade took out a clipboard and consulted the list.

"I'm not sure if I can do that, Hiashi. I'm not even sure if I can condone this plan at all. The mission records over the last decade clearly show that teams with a Hyuuga member have a noticeably high success rate. Removing would change many mission results drastically."

"And we are proud of that record, but this is necessary. We will still train our ninja in the Juuken style, but they will also learn advanced medical healing. You yourself have expressed a desire to add medical ninja to ninja teams, but your current medics are too valuable to allow on field missions. Our family will fill that gap by putting fully combat trained nins on the field who can use the Byakugan to offer precise internal surgery otherwise only available in a hospital. All Hyuugas are already highly accomplished in fine chakra manipulation, so the medical training will go swiftly. We ask you for just a year, then the Hyuugas will return to our duties to the village.

"We?"

"Hinata and I. I realize now that she is the kind of person the Hyuuga clan should idolize and follow. She will be working by my side to change our clan, and will assume the position of head within two years. I intend to retire."

Hinata, who had apparently not heard this part of the plan, let out a squeak of surprise and clapped her hands over her mouth, turning bright red. Tsunade set down her list with a sigh.

"Well it does _sound _like a good plan. Provided it works out the way you plan it to. I'll approve it, for now, but I withhold the right to temporarily reactivate any Hyuuga I may ever need."

Hiashi bowed, followed by Hinata.

"Arigato, Hokage-sama. Kasei."

Kasei looked up in surprise.

"Yeah?"

"I would like to extend an offer for you to join us. I heard your description of your new eyes, and they also seem to be well suited to the healing arts. In addition, your fine chakra control is nearly legendary."

Kasei smiled, but shook his head.

"Thank you, Hiashi-dono, but I can't accept that. I'll allow those more patient and gentle than I to follow the path of a healer. But please, if there is anything I can ever do to assist your new goals, don't hesitate to ask."

Hiashi nodded, then swept out of the room along with his daughter. Tsunade waited until the door closed before turning back to Kasei.

"Well that should keep the village interesting for a while. May I ask why you refused his offer? Even if your friends don't see it, I know you'd prefer it if you never had to lift your weapons again."

"Right and wrong, Tsunade-sama." Kasei said in response. "True, morally I'd prefer peace and the time to just watch the stars, but I could never do it. Over the years between my time in the Past and when I came here, I came to know that I am a warrior, a creature of action. In the times when there is no pressing need for action, I am not at ease…not at all. And besides," He pulled back his sleeve again and looked down at emerald green patterns, "whatever this arm is for, it's not to heal. I know that much."

Tsunade sighed and nodded.

"I can understand that. What do you intend to do now?"

Kasei stood, dropping his sleeve."

"I'm going to find out what this new arm is capable of, but I'm ready for any assignment you need my team on. Without the Hyuugas on active duty, you're going to need some capable ninja. Is Sakura's position at the hospital permanent?"

"No, she's too valuable to keep in the village. She'll be with you every step of the way until further notice."

"Alright, good. Hiashi is right; a trained medic is invaluable to have on a team. I'd have died back in Suna without her. I'll see you later, Hokage-sama."

He walked off into the shadows of the room and transported himself straight into his living room. There he found Temari, barely awake on the couch. She jerked up as he appeared.

"Oh! You're back."

"Well I said I would be." Replied Kasei with a small smile. "Did you think I was lying?"

Temari shook her head vigorously.

"No! You just…it's so late."

"I'm sorry. Things took an unexpected turn. You didn't have to wait up for me."

"Yes I did…" she ducked her head. "I did."

Kasei kneeled next to her in sudden concern.

"Is something wrong? What happened?"

She leaned her head into his shoulder.

"Nothing happened…I just found out a few hours ago that I'm leaving tomorrow. Gaara put it off until we were sure you were awake, but we received an urgent message from Suna saying that something important has come up, so we have to leave."

Kasei lifted her head until she was looking up at him.

"Hey now. It'll be okay. We managed to do it before, didn't we?"

"Yeah…" she sniffed. "I'm being stupid, aren't I?"

He sat on the couch next to her and pulled her into his arms.

"Nah, just human. Don't worry about it. I'll see you every chance I get, okay?"

She didn't reply, but snuggled up against him, her arms tight around him. The two fell asleep on the couch in the same position.


	19. Chapter 19

Chapter 19: Dangerous Premonitions 

Kasei walked with Temari to the gate in silence, his arm around her. Just outside, they met with the large group of Suna citizens who had come to witness the exam, headed by Gaara.

"Kankuro didn't come?"

Temari shook her head.

"He's back helping manage things in the Sand until Gaara gets back."

The Kazekage moved to meet them as he saw the pair approach. He turned to Kasei as soon as his sister had released him.

"You never fail to amaze me, Kasei-san. I have a feeling that your fight will become yet another legend in the Hidden Sand."

Kasei shook his head, but smiled.

"I guess you can't stop gossip, but if anyone tries, it'll have to be you. I'll be waiting here whenever you return."

Gaara extended his hand.

"I'll look forwards to that next visit, my friend. Goodbye, Kasei."

"Not quite yet!"

Tsunade, who had interrupted them, marched up to the Sand party, followed by Naruto, Sakura and Kakashi.

"Kasei, I'm giving your team a new assignment. You are to escort the Kazekage and his people to the edge of Fire Country."

Gaara turned to look at his colleague.

"Really, Hokage-sama, that's hardly necessary. I have some very capable ninja in my party, there's no need to waste your ninja's time protecting us."

"Just consider it a small gift, Kazekage. I know at least some of you will appreciate the extra time to say goodbye. Besides," she lowered her voice, "if these budding rumors are to be believed, it can hardly hurt to be too careful."

Gaara nodded in acceptance.

"Arigato, Tsunade. I'll be sure they come back safely."

After bowing formally, he led the citizens of his city away into the forest. The party chatted amiably amongst themselves as they walked amongst the trees. Some Suna girls hung around Kasei, trying to draw him into a conversation, but only Chiera, the Sand medic, managed to get past Temari's glare, though she had the sense not to get too close. Naruto rambled on aimlessly to Gaara, who only seemed truly interested when the blonde brought up his new wind jutsus. The entire group traveled peacefully for hours, unaware that they were being watched as they drew closer to the border. As the sun began to set, Gaara declared that it was not necessary to push on through the night, and the ninja began to set up camp. The villagers were in a bright mood and laughter echoed thought the forest along with a few lines of song. Not even Kakashi or Kasei were prepared when the attack suddenly came.The first strike came in the form of just one shuriken, whirling through the air to imbed in the neck of an unwary Sand nin. Kasei was already in motion before the next attack came, his own series of projectiles knocking the incoming shuriken and kunai out of the air. Panic began to spread as the villagers realized what was happening. Some began to scream while a few foolish ones bolted into the trees.

"No! You're heading right towards them!" Kakashi began to shout, but it was too late. A few cries and soft thuds were all that signified their deaths. Cursing, Kasei then breathed a small prayer that it would work again before activating his bloodline. His vision shifted into the welcome multicolored array. He easily managed to pick out several of the attackers, hiding in bushes and up in trees.

"Naruto!" The blonde looked over at hearing his name. "They're scattered in the forest east of us! We need to get a clear shot to retaliate. Can you do it for me?"

Naruto nodded affirmatively and turned to face the east. For several seconds he didn't do anything, just looked off into the trees while moving his fingers around. Then, in one smooth movement, he brought up both arms and swung them in a wide sweeping manner. From his hands flew dozens of marble-sized balls, tiny Rasengans. Tiny, but devastatingly effective. The globes ripped into the foliage, blasting apart trees and shredding leaves. One of the attackers caught one of the shots straight in the chest, but it tore through and continued on unhindered while the ninja dropped lifelessly to the ground. It seemed like minutes, though it couldn't have been over a few seconds, before the forest stilled again. A wide swath of destruction had carved apart the trees, leaving the enemy ninja scrambling to find more cover. The ensuing hail of Sand attacks cut several down, but more dangerous to them was their sudden exposal. Kasei's eye flickered from one to the next as they darted out of sight.

"Thirty total. Six just hit, that leaves twenty-four. We couldn't ask for better odds. Gaara!" The Kazekage looked over. "Stay here. Use your sand to guard your people and tell your ninja to guard as well. Sakura, start treating any of the wounded. We can handle this."

"Did you see who they are?"

Wary for any attack, Kasei walked out into the destroyed field up to one of the enemy corpses.

"No, but I can guess." He kicked the body to it's back, revealing the distinctive, patterned high collar of the uniform, as well as the forehead plate. "Sound ninja. Orochimaru is becoming more bold."

He suddenly snapped out one of his yoroi toshi and knocked aside a hail of kunai.

"Damnit, I guess that didn't scare them as much as I thought." Muttered Kakashi. "Kasei, Naruto, follow me. Temari, give them something to think about from here."

The Sand kunoichi nodded grimly and pulled out her two fans. Soon a swarm of thin, precise slashes were speeding over her allies' shoulders into the trees, forcing the Sound ninja to scatter and roll evasively. Kakashi glanced over at Kasei.

"That's some girl you've got there."

Kasei just grinned as they neared the trees while drawing his second dagger.

"No need to tell me that. Let's go. If she shows us up, I'll never hear the end of it."

The three split apart and shot off. To the watching Suna citizens, the surrounding trees seemed to come alive with a thousand noises. One of the many jutsus in Kakashi's repertoire sent a powerful wave of earth at his foes, raising up a small mountain where there had been flat forest. Kasei took the change in terrain in stride and ran up it unhesitatingly. Those that had been knocked off their feet by the earthquake or directly engaged him were dispatched by short thrusts of his blades, while those that ran were cut down by both wind and lightning. Naruto was exercising what appeared to be his new favorite technique, hurling down tiny Rasengan globes to gouge holes in both the earth and foe alike. The entire fight lasted no more than ten minutes, and each if the defenders returned with little more than a scratch on them. After regrouping, they headed back to the campsite. A cheer went up as they reappeared and Sakura greeted them with a weak smile.

"That was worse than I thought. A smaller group of Sound ninja hit us just as you left. We fought them off with only a few more casualties, but the number of wounded has doubled."

"Is there anything serious right now?"

"No. Only a few were killed, as I said, and most of the other wounds are fairly minor. We can travel just fine tomor- LOOK OUT!"

Kasei whirled, his right arm coming up in a desperate attempt to block the unseen attack. A strange green flash obscured whatever happened, but when the others could see again, a blade had appeared out of sleeve to parry the incoming sword. The enemy wielder growled.

"No one's that fast, Rakugosha. How did you do that?"

Kasei's eye's narrowed and he glanced at the man's Sound attire.

"A Past assassin. So, you've allied with Orochimaru as well?"

"Hardly. His ambushers just presented the perfect disguise. Now what is that blade?"

Kasei pulled back his sleeve to reveal his marked forearm, but it was gone. The limb had shifted into a short blade, the only sign of what it was being the green patterns that twisted up its length.

"What the- _oof"_

Kasei took the opening caused by the ninja's surprise and drove his foot into his chest, sending the man flying. Even before the enemy had hit the ground, Kasei was curiously examining his altered arm.

"To answer your question, I have no idea what it is. Very strange…" he attempted to halt the flow of the strange green chakra within his arm, and the blade melted back into his normal arm. "I'll have to deal with it later though."

When he looked up, the Past ninja was already charging again. This time he had the chance to draw his katana and met the man in a skirl of steel.

"Whatever that power was, you can't beat me. The assassin who survived your exams told us everything about the fight. Ronhim was a fool!"

"Ronhim was one of the best among you." Kasei let the man attack twice, then lunged. "You're no better!"

He reactivated his bloodline and swung. The ninja blocked, but sparks coursed up his blade and his body jerked involuntarily. Kasei used the moment to kick his legs from under him before slashing viciously. Even the ninja's rigorous training couldn't stop the scream of pain that tore from his throat as his arm dropped to the ground.

"Get out of here." Kasei ordered the ninja. "Tell the council that they'll have to send better than you to get rid of me."

Whimpering and holding his arm, the man crawled off as fast as he could. Kasei sheathed his weapon and turned around to face the shocked stares of the spectators.

"What?"

"Your…your arm! What happened?"

Kasei raised his arm and allowed the strange chakra to flow again. The patterns glowed and visibly rippled as if they were moving along his arm, drawing a gasp from the crowd.

"Well, I guess that's what it does, though I'm still not sure how."

Sakura, ever the curious medic, rushed up to examine the limb.

"This chakra is…unheard of! It seems to be rearranging the molecular composition of your arm and transmuting it into…almost anything you want really."

"Hm…" Kasei looked at his arm and envisioned a sickle-like blade. Instantly, the limb narrowed and bent, shifting into a curved weapon of grey steel, with the green markings tracing up its length. "This could be very useful."

"Incredible! When did this happen? You didn't have that mark before."

"Just last night, actually. Neji and I were trying to activate the bloodline I discovered at the exam, and found that there was a second stage as well, though we didn't know what it did."

Gaara put off further explanations.

"Alright, we've got a long ways to travel yet and Kakashi, your team is returning in the morning. Everyone needs to get some sleep."

The ninja nodded and drifted off to their tents. As Kasei lay down next to Temari, she looked over at him worriedly.

"What do you suppose that attack was about? I know the Hidden Past is still trying to eliminate you, but what about the Sound ninja? I doubt that they managed to persuade Orochimaru to organize an attack. It was very risky for them to strike just a day away from Konoha."

"Yeah…well, you mentioned that Gaara was needed back in the Sand for something urgent, and I heard Tsunade mention some dangerous rumors, though I don't know what they're about. Maybe they know something. Orochimaru could be preparing an all out strike against the Hidden Villages."

Temari let a small smile creep across her face.

"He'd better have a pretty big army if he intends to try that. He couldn't take down Konoha the last time he tried, and that was with the Sand's help. I don't know what he could possibly do against _all _the Villages."

"I don't know, but don't underestimate that man. Who knows what resources he has to draw on."

"Yeah…whatever. I'm to tired to think about it now…"

The kunoichi yawned and curled up against him, falling asleep within minutes. Kasei, however, stayed awake much longer, pondering the day's events and trying to find some purpose behind the attacks.

The next morning came slowly, the sky overcast and a drizzling rain falling. Gaara greeted Team Kakashi as they exited their tents.

"I don't believe it's necessary to accompany us any further. The border is less than a mile away, and you can make it to Konoha before nightfall if you leave soon. Thank you for your help."

"Not a problem, Kazekage-sama, it has been an honor escorting you. I need to report yesterday's events to the Hokage anyway, and it is best that I do that as soon as possible."

"In that case, farewell. Please, keep me updated on anything you discover about the Sound attack."

"We will. Goodbye, Gaara."

The Konoha ninja said their goodbyes, and then turned around, heading back to their own city. After a short time, Naruto broke the silence, as usual.

"So, what do you guys thing about that attack yesterday, huh? Do you think it was Orochimaru's plan?"

"Of _course _it was, baka!" Sakura said impatiently. "They were Sound ninja, after all!"

"Oh right…well, what do you think they were here for?"

No one had an answer to that, but Kasei ventured a guess.

"Last night, Temari and I were talking about that. I know he attempted an all out attack against Konoha before, but it failed then, even with the Sand's help. She didn't believe that he would try something like that again but…I'm not so sure. The party was too small to be a true attempt to kill the Suna villagers; Gaara likely could have dealt with that lot by himself. It looked more like a scouting party."

"Awfully large, just for a scouting party." Put in Kakashi.

Kasei nodded.

"I agree, unless it wasn't just to scout Konoha. From the looks of their size and how they were supplied, I'd say they were scouting out the entire area, all of Fire Country and maybe some of the smaller surrounding ones."

Sakura broke in.

"But scouting that much space at a time can only be the preface for one thing…"

"Invasion…" breathed Kakashi. "He may be planning an attack on all the great nations at once, to take us out in one massive blow. No one will see an attack of that size coming. We've got to get back as fast as possible."

"Done." Kasei stopped, followed by the other three, and activated his Kekkei Genkai. "This may sting a bit. I've never tried this, so I wouldn't know."

Before they could ask what he intended, he let out an arc of lightning which impacted Kakashi first, then Sakura and Naruto. They vanished instantly, followed by Kasei in a flurry of sparks. A moment later, they reappeared. Naruto looked around wildly.

"What was _that?!"_

"As Kakashi said, time is of the essence. I'm teleporting you along with me as far as I can at a time." He looked off into the distance, towards Konoha. "A couple more times should do it."

Ignoring any protests, he let loose another wave of electricity.

Two jumps later, the team appeared at the gates of Konoha. Kasei looked around in confusion as his teammates groaned and slumped to their knees.

"Kasei…never again." Gritted Kakashi. "I feel like I stuck my finger in an electrical socket."

"You look like it to." Kasei quipped. "Wait, never mind. Your hair's _always _like that."

Naruto was the only one who smirked at that, the other two just glared at the lightning user.

"What? We had to get here fast, and it's still important! Come on, different method this time."

He took hold of Kakashi and Sakura, while Naruto grabbed his arm, then stepped into the gate's shadow and reappeared in front of Tsunade's desk. The sannin/Hokage jumped to her feet as soon as she saw them.

"My goodness, what _happened? _How did you get back so fast?"

Kasei stood with a sheepish grin, rubbing the back of his neck.

"Heh, that's my bad. I guess lightning teleportation isn't so easy on you if you don't have the bloodline."

"You teleported them all the way here? What for? Did something go wrong?"

Kakashi managed to get to his feet and slump into one of the chairs.

"Yeah, we were ambushed by Sound ninja just short of the border. A few of the Suna villagers were killed, but we got rid of them without too much trouble. We're worried about why they were there though. Kasei thinks they were a scouting party."

"Scouting party…yes, that would make sense. It fits…"

"Fit's _what, _Tsunade? You've heard something, now tell us?"

She shook her head.

"No, no, it's not important. Just bits of rumors."

_thunk _Kasei slammed his hands down on the desk, the right one shifting into a spike which drove straight through the stack of paperwork.

"It IS important, and you know it. This is not the time for secrets! Now out with it!"

Tsunade looked with interest at his arm.

"I see you've discovered what that second stage does."

"Yeah. Saved my life when a Past assassin tried to take my head off. Now tell."

"Alright. It's not much really. We've heard rumors of a huge army gathering in the Country of Lightning, which is the main reason the Raikage was invited to the chuunin exam. He denied all knowledge of it but…I don't trust the man. Orochimaru has been far too quiet lately."

"So you think he's behind the army…and the Raikage may be in on it. This isn't good…" mused Kakashi. "The Cloud village is powerful. If they are behind Orochimaru, it spells disaster for all other villages."

"Most definitely. We can only hope we're wrong."

The door suddenly burst open and a woman rushed in, a messenger hawk on her shoulder and a scroll in her hand.

"Pardon me, Hokage-sama, but we've just received a message from Earth Country!"

"What is it?"

"I-I…it's…"

"Damnit girl, get a hold of yourself!" roared Tsunade. "What does it say!"

The girl took a deep breath before the news came out in a rush.

"The Hidden Rock is gone!"


	20. Chapter 20

Chapter 20: The First Calls of War Chapter 20: The First Calls of War

"Gone?! How can it be simply gone? Let me see that!"

Tsunade snatched the message from the girl and read it closely, her face visibly paling with each line. After reaching the end she didn't move, not even blinking.

"Hokage-sama." Ventured Kakashi after a moment. Tsunade jerked to alertness. "What is it?"

"Just what she said…the Rock is gone. Kasei, it seems that everything you guessed about Orochimaru's plans may well be true. He seems to have found a massive army, made up of missing nins, small clans, and…the Hidden Cloud."

"Damnit…Do we know specifically what happened in the village? The Hidden Rock was powerful, it wouldn't have fallen easily."

Tsunade shook her head.

"It doesn't give the battle specifics. It only says that a large army assaulted the Rock, led by…an Uchiha."

A gasp escaped Sakura and Naruto gritted his teeth audibly.

"Sasuke…"

"We can assume that, yes. It seems that we'll be seeing more of him soon."

Kasei stood quietly for a moment, deep in thought.

"Do we have any more information on the army? Where is it headed?"

"No where, currently. They've taken over the Rock village and are camped there for the time being. Orochimaru knows that this is a massive endeavor he is attempting. He's not going to rush it anything. It could be weeks, or months even before they move again."

"Weeks, at the most." Kakashi broke in. "He is being cautious, but being overcautious will end him just as surely as a rushed attack. He can't give us time to organize a large-scale counterattack."

Naruto looked around wildly.

"So what do we do? We've got to stop Sasuke and get him back!"

Everyone looked at the impatient boy in annoyance, then Kasei thought better of it.

"Actually…that may be the best thing to do."

Tsunade looked at him like he was crazy.

"What, charge Orochimaru's army and hope to somehow kidnap their general? What could that possibly gain us?"

"It will be the best way to buy us some time." Kasei explained. "You said that the army is made up mostly of small clans and missing nins. Most ninja, missing nins especially, are very independent, and it would require a strong hand to lead them all in an effective force. If we take away Sasuke-"

"Then we cut off the head." Finished Kakashi, realizing the boy's plan. "It should take some time for Orochimaru to find someone new to lead such an army and, since Sasuke's so valuable to him, he may waste precious time trying to find him. It won't stop him, but it will definitely slow him down for a while."

The Hokage looked thoughtful for a moment.

"That may work…but it doesn't tell me how we'll get him in the first place. He's likely to be in the very center of the city, in the Tsuchikage's tower possibly, surrounded by the entire army."

"No." Sakura finally spoke up. "Sasuke doesn't like attention, otherwise he would have paid more attention to me and all the other girls in school. He won't be in the middle of it all, he'll be off somewhere on the outskirts, probably by himself."

"That makes the job easy, then." Thought Kasei aloud.

Naruto shook his head grimly.

"Don't underestimate Sasuke. With that cursed seal Orochimaru gave him, he's powerful. He's been training under Orochimaru this entire time, too. Who knows what the snake has taught him."

Tsunade withdrew a list of active ninja and reviewed it.

"So we'll need an elite team, skilled in both infiltration and battle. Hm…we might have to pull some ANBU for this."

"WHAT!?" Both Naruto and Sakura yelled. "You mean we're not going? Why not?"

"Because neither of you could take him down without hesitation. Sakura, you likely wouldn't raise a hand against him, even if he were about to kill you. I know you would, Naruto, but-"

"No, Naruto should come." Kasei interjected. "If anyone has a chance of making the Uchiha come peacefully, it's him. Besides, if it comes to a fight, which it likely will, I'd like to have his power at the ready."

The Hokage raised an eyebrow at him.

"And what makes you so sure you're coming, Kasei?"

"Simple. You said you need people skilled in infiltration and battle. I doubt there's any in the village better at that than me. Better fighters, perhaps, but no one has the stealth techniques that I have."

"True. Alright, in that case, Kasei I'm putting the formation of this team up to you. You'll get a list of all available chuunin and jounin, any of which are at your disposal. Keep it small, but powerful enough to deal with heavy resistance."

"Done. When do you want us gone?"

"Give it few weeks to let them drop their guard a bit, but no more. Be sure to prepare for every possibility, we can't afford to mess this up. We'll only have one chance."

Kasei offered a short bow of acknowledgment and began to leave the office.

"Oh, one more thing." Tsunade called after him. He halted. "The jounin exams are in just a week. Unless you want to wait until the next time around, you, Naruto and Sakura need to prepare for those too."

Every head in the room shot up at that.

"B-but Tsunade-sama!" stammered Sakura. "Isn't there a mission requirement for jounin? A certain number of high-ranked missions?"

"That's not a problem. Naruto, your very first C-ranked mission became an A-rank, and since then, you've done almost exclusively. Sakura, while you haven't done as many as Naruto, you've met the requirement and training under me will give you some extra credit." She looked back at Kasei. "At you, we reach a small problem. As a Leaf ninja, you've only officially completed Team Kakashi's last two missions, the B-rank escort and the S-rank rescue."

Kasei looked at her blankly.

"So, what do we do about it?"

The Hokage sighed and began writing something down.

"Well, this is when I start abusing my power as Hokage. I'm going to do two things. First of all, in between your time in the Past and arriving here, did you do anything besides travel?"

"Some things in the small towns when I needed the money. Some guarding and escort missions, mercenary work, basically. I don't know how many times."

"Can you guess at some of the rankings?"

Kasei looked up, thinking.

"Uh, mostly B, four or five A. I stopped taking the jobs after the last A, it paid well enough for me to practically retire."

Naruto looked at his teammate with wide eyes.

"What was it?"

"That's the funny part…it was a fairly simple mission. A minor country's daimio was being threatened by a group of missing nins. I just protected him and took care of them when they attacked. The daimio was about as grateful as anyone I've ever seen…nice guy."

Tsunade coughed to regain their attention.

"Anyway, so I'll mark down seven B-rank and five A-ranked. In addition, I'm going to count the mission for Sasuke in advance, giving both you and Naruto an extra S-rank. That should be sufficient to get in."

"In that case…" Kasei appeared thoughtful, "I'll be at the training yard."

He vanished in a flash of light. Tsunade shook her head at his departure.

"He just keeps finding more and more techniques, doesn't he? What on earth did he need a second teleportation jutsu for?"

Kakashi smiled beneath his mask.

"I've asked myself that about a few things he does, and I can only find one answer. Boredom. He finds all these different things just to keep himself entertained."

The other three ninja in the room stared at the jounin.

"Sounds sorta like Shika." Muttered Naruto. "Except Shika is just _always _bored and doesn't seem to care."

"Don't forget, Kasei is part Nara, after all. His attempts to keep himself entertained must be the Inuzuka side coming through."

Tsunade nodded.

"Undoubtedly. Both of those clans lost a great deal when they banished him and his parents. Oh well…too late now. Why don't you three go keep him company before he experiments with some jutsu and kills us all by accident."

They all laughed, but Team Kakashi's pace was noticeably more urgent as they made their way to the training field. There they found Kasei already practicing Taijutsu, though his opponent nearly turned them away.

"Naruto-kun! Sakura-chan! Kakashi-san! Come, join us in our explosive battle of youth!"

The temporary distraction cost Rock Lee greatly. Kasei ducked in close and delivered a brutal kick straight up to his chin, shooting the taijutsu specialist straight up. Not bothering to follow up the attack with a combo, Kasei turned away and walked over to his companions.

"Uh…what's Lee doing here, Kasei?" asked Sakura, wincing as a loud crash signified Lee's return to earth.

"I ran into him on the way here and asked him for a favor."

"A favor from Lee?" Even Kakashi was wary of this. "What could you possibly need his help for? You've already proven that you can defeat both him and Gai in a fair fight, so he can't help your taijutsu at all."

Before Kasei could answer, Lee came running up, the crushing impact with the ground seeming to have hardly dazed him.

"Kasei-sensei did not ask for my help with his own training!" Kasei winced at the -sensei title. Lee had insisted on calling him that ever since their training bout in Suna. "He asked me to come in order to assist the lovely flower, Sakura!"

Sakura recoiled at the proclamation.

"What?! Why?! Kasei, I train with Tsunade-sama! What on earth could he ever teach me?"

"His Gouken style." Kasei answered bluntly. "You're phenomenally strong, but all that power is useless if you can't hit something, and Lee can help you learn to do that."

Sakura looked around desperately, knowing Kasei was right but fearing what her training would entail.

"But…but why can't I learn a different style? Like the Hyuuga Juuken or even yours? You could teach me!"

"Neither would work. The Juuken uses light taps to inflict chakra damage, not heavy strikes. The same goes for mine; I use a combination of throws, lock-holds, and pressure points generally, only using direct blows in sparring matches. The Gouken Ryuu is the best course for you.

The young medic slumped in defeat.

"Okay…but if he kills me, I'm coming back to haunt your sorry ass!"

Lee pumped his fist in the air.

"Excellent! Come, Sakura! Let us run five hundred laps around the village!"

Even Kasei winced at this.

"Uh, Lee? Sakura's new to this. Why don't you start out a little easier?"

The bizarre boy was instantly apologetic.

"Of course, I apologize Sakura-chan! We will only do fifty laps today! Then two hundred push-ups, followed by one hundred jumping jacks and…"

His voice trailed off into the distance as he dragged the hapless kunoichi after him. Kakashi watched them pityingly until they vanished.

"Kasei, are you sure this is a good idea? There are plenty of other taijutsu styles that are suitable for her Gouwan strikes."

"Suitable, yeah, but the training regime of the Gouken style is what she really needs. If she can get even a fraction of Lee's speed, she'll be unstoppable. Imagine if Lee could use the Gouwan."

Both Kakashi and Naruto shuddered, picturing a scene of unbridled destruction.

"Alright, I see your point. But what do you two want to do now?" Asked Kakashi. "As it is, I don't foresee a problem in the exam, you two should pass without a problem. Despite that, you should still train. Can I do anything to help?"

Naruto piped up first.

"Can you teach me some defensive jutsus, sensei? Wind's great to hit stuff and all, but it's a little weak in terms of defense."

"Okay, that's easy enough. A couple of different elemental techniques will work just fine. Kasei, I know you're already practically at, if not above, my level, but is there anything I can do?"

Kasei appeared thoughtful for a moment before nodding.

"There is. I'll understand if you don't want to show it to me but…I'd like you to show me the Chidori."

The jounin looked surprised.

"What for? With that bloodline of yours, you can likely find something just as effective in less time than it would take to learn it."

"I don't want to learn to use it. I want to learn to counter it. We're going after Sasuke soon, and I'm told that you taught him the technique."

"I did… to my eternal regret…okay, I'll show you how to counter it. Naruto, you too. I've never told this to anyone else, not even Sasuke, though he could easily figure it out by himself. Naruto, what do you know about how the Chidori works?"

Not expecting to be suddenly questioned, the blonde panicked.

"Uh, I…um…I dunno…it's, well I think it is…I heard the power of it is in the thrust, right?"

"Right. That is the power and also the greatest weakness of the technique, the speed required for it. I had to train Sasuke to gain a speed comparable to Rock Lee's in order for him to use it."

"So if you can counter the speed…"

"Then it's the easiest thing to defeat. It is praised as an incredible technique because it can cut through anything but really, anyone with similar or greater speed than me can easily deflect or entirely stop it."

Kasei expression was between confusion and annoyance.

"That's it? That's the key to defeating the Chidori? ….I feel like an idiot for not thinking of it myself."

Both Kakashi and Naruto were shaking their heads.

"With Sasuke, that's' not nearly as easy as it sounds. He's already incredibly fast, and that curse seal triples it at level one, and even more at level two." Naruto explained. "I'm not sure if either of us are fast enough."

"We'll figure it out. If it comes down to it, let me take it. He's using lightning, after all. Maybe I can nullify it somehow. Anyway, that was all I wanted to know, Kakashi. Go help Naruto, I can train by myself until you're done."

Kakashi nodded and walked off to a separate section of the training area. Kasei sat calmly at the base of a tree and pulled out his small flute.

"You really like that flute, don't you?" came a familiar voice from above.

Kasei looked up to see Sanera perched up in a branch alongside Caimaru.

"Music is…calming. It helps me focus."

The cat summon dropped down and curled in his lap.

"Well, music makes me fall asleep, so play away."

Kasei laughed softly, then leaned back against the tree and began to play quietly. His eyes drifted shut and he soon lost track of time. Hours later, though he thought it was merely minutes, he was rudely jolted by a loud voice.

"Hey! What are you doing lying around? You need to be training!"

He slowly opened his eyes and fixed Naruto with a fierce glare, promising sure death if the blonde didn't shut up. The fox container failed to notice, however, and kept rambling on about training and becoming great. Only Kakashi's timely appearance between the two boys kept them apart.

"Hey, hey, calm down. Naruto, shut up. Kasei, lose that look. I know it's tempting to kill Naruto, but we all have to control ourselves."

Kasei's face softened into a slight smile.

"One of these days, he's just going to do something so stupid…."

"And you'll tear him apart." Finished Kakashi. "Get in line. Sakura and I have been waiting to do that for years."

Naruto looked back and forth between the two, indignant.

"Hey! Sakura-chan would never hurt me. She loves me too much!"

_Wham! _A fist connected with the back of Naruto's head and he smashed into the tree, narrowly missing Kasei."

"You were saying?" Sakura smirked as Naruto slid slowly down the trunk.

The kunoichi looked like she had just run through a minefield. She was covered in dirt and small scratches, while her clothes were frayed and torn. Her body was visibly trembling from exhaustion, though her punch had lacked little of its usual power.

"Sakura-chaaan," whined Naruto, "what was that for?"

She shrugged, the movement almost throwing her off balance before Kasei appeared at her side to steady her.

"I just felt like it…after a day like that, I needed to hit something."

Kasei laughed as he lowered her to a sitting position.

"Lee pushed you that much? I'm not really surprised…where is he?"

The medic managed a small smirk.

"We were finally working on taijutsu after all his exercises. I managed to get a hit on him and knocked him out. I ran while I could."

As if on cue, a green blur appeared, resolving into the beaming Rock Lee.

"That was an excellent punch, Sakura-chan! Only half a days work, and already you have hit me! The flames of youth are strong within you!" Sakura just groaned and fell to her back. "Come! Let us to one hundred victory laps around the training field!"

The pink haired medic fixed him with a death glare.

"Fuck. You."

Kakashi put a hand on the energetic chuunin's shoulder.

"Maybe you should give Sakura the rest of the day off. She's not used to this." When Lee's grin drooped disappointedly, Kakashi leaned close to whisper to him. "But to make up for it, tomorrow you can double everything you did today."

He instantly brightened and shot off. Sakura trained her glare on her old teacher.

"What did you tell him, Kakashi-sensei?"

"Uh, why don't you go home, Sakura?" The jounin avoided the question. "You've got a lot of work tomorrow."

She groaned, but climbed to her feet and staggered off. Naruto stared after her worriedly.

"Is she gonna be alright? She's not so good at this kinda stuff."

"And that's why she's doing it. That girl has tremendous potential and could likely surpass even Tsunade-sama, but not if she's only trained as a medic."

Naruto was still confused.

"But she's _never _been good at this. Kakashi, even you said she was a genjutsu type."

"Naruto, have you noticed what kind of trouble your group attracts? Because of Sasuke, Orochimaru himself is your personal enemy. The entire Akatsuki organization is after you for the Kyuubi. Now, how many of them will be incapacitated by a genjutsu?"

"Uh…well…I dunno."

Kasei stepped in.

"Precisely none of them. Orochimaru's at too high a level for anything below the Tsukuyomi, as are most of the Akatsuki. With the Sharingan, Itachi is completely invulnerable to any genjutsu, as is Sasuke. If she learns taijutsu, however..."

"It's a lot harder for a high level ninja to dodge a fast punch than escape a genjutsu." Finished Kakashi. "Besides, with the Gouwan that Tsunade taught her, it would be stupid to _not _teach her taijutsu. That's Tsunade's biggest problem; she can punch through a mountain, but isn't too hard to avoid."

"Ok, ok I get it." Naruto had long since lost interest. "Hey Kasei, check out these awesome barrier jutsus!"

He was about to launch into a series of hand seals when Kakashi stopped him.

"Naruto, barrier jutsus tend to be messy. Let's not ruin the rest of the training field. Why don't you two get some rest."

Naruto looked disappointed, but nodded and activated his wind walking technique to fly off to his apartment. Kakashi's lazy eye followed the blonde off until he disappeared. Then he turned to Kasei, but the boy had already vanished, along with his dog and summoned cat.


	21. Chapter 21

Chapter 21: Some title I haven't thought of Chapter 21: Some title I haven't thought of

The week before the exam passed quickly. Naruto and Kasei spent much of the time sparring, either together or with Kakashi. They saw little of Sakura, and what they did see generally consisted of a colored blur as she raced Lee around the village. While a week worth of training could only do so much, it had brought her to the point of being able to match Lee's weighted speed. Naruto and Kasei had done little to supplement their skills, aside from Naruto's new barrier jutsus, and had merely trained to improve their current techniques. The blonde boy's marble-like micro Rasengan technique had prompted Kakashi to show up one day with a slingshot as a joke gift, but Naruto had put the toy weapon to good use. When reinforced with chakra to prevent the technique from destroying it, the slingshot effectively tripled the range that the ball could normally be thrown. Kasei studied and trained with his bloodline-enhanced arm, and could soon alter its form to any tool or weapon he desired with a bare thought, though he discovered that whatever he shifted it into could only be of equivalent or smaller mass to his original arm. A day before the exam, Tsunade called all the chuunin who had chosen to take the exam to her office. Team Kakashi (minus Kakashi) met up there, and also discovered that Teams Kurenai and Asuma (again, minus their respective jounins) had chosen to take it.

"Kasei!" Kiba waved. "So you and that mangy mutt of yours are here too?"

Caimaru growled at the insult before trotting over to greet Akamaru. Kasei just laughed.

"Yeah, looks like it. Hm, who's your friend?" he asked, looking at Shino.

"Oh, I didn't know you hadn't been introduced. This is Aburame Shino, one of Konoha's insect users."

Kasei offered Shino a short bow while the Aburame boy studied him.

"So the rumors are true. My bugs tell me that you seem to have no chakra flowing through you. They don't like it."

Kasei grinned.

"Well, sorry to upset them. They can go eat Naruto if they're hungry, maybe it will kill some of his extra energy."

"I may just let them do that…" Shino mused, watching the blonde boy who was hyperactively jumping from person to person and chattering wildly. Fortunately, before Shino took drastic measures, Tsunade walked into the room and Naruto was instantly quiet.

"You are all here for the jounin exam, correct?" Each team nodded eagerly. "Each of you understands that this exam is intensely difficult and highly dangerous?" Again, they nodded. "Alright then. In a half hour, your jounin team leaders will meet you at the gate and lead you to the location of the jounin exams. Like the chuunin exams, this exam is for all countries to enter and compete in. The stakes in terms of reputation, however, is much higher. The most powerful factions of any hidden village is its jounin population. The villages that prove their superiority are held in high regard, even more so than after the chuunin exams. Good luck to you all, and make us proud."

With that, she bowed to them and allowed the chuunin group to depart. Naruto began talking excitedly again as soon as they left the building.

"Wow, Kakashi-sensei has to take us there. That means its somewhere out of fire country! Where do you think it is?"

"I have no idea." Said Kasei in annoyance, but Naruto was not deterred and just switched to Sakura.

"Sakura-chan! We haven't seen much of you lately. Where've you been?"

"Off training with Lee, baka! Remember?"

"Oh yeah! So, what'd he teach you? Are you super fast now? Do you have some awesome taijutsu moves?"

Sakura was visibly restraining her frustration, practically trembling with the effort.

"Naruto…shut…up…"

"Shut up? But whyyyyy, Sakura-chan? I like talking to you. You know, one time I-"

He suddenly went rigid and collapsed to the ground. Kasei stood behind him, his hand still poised from striking a pressure point. Shaking his head, he picked up the unconscious boy and draped him over Akamaru's back, who seemed to think that the load was well worth the quiet.

"Thank you." Said Sakura gratefully as Kasei stepped up the pace to walk next to her.

"My pleasure. I mean, _really_ my pleasure. That was the most fun thing I've done all week."

She giggled.

"I can see why, though it is a pain for Akamaru to have to carry him. I wish you could just immobilize his jaw or something to shut him up."

Kasei stopped suddenly, a slow grin spreading over his face.

"Hey…I can do that. Talking requires nerve impulses from his brain, and I can scramble or even stop those. I can shut him up entirely!"

She laughed delightedly as they neared the gate. Kakashi appeared a moment later along with Asuma and Kurenai.

"Yo." His single eye widened when he saw Naruto's situation. "What happened here?"

"Well…" Kasei began sheepishly.

"He fell and hit his head." Sakura cut in. "The idiot's lucky he didn't kill himself."

Kakashi looked between Sakura and Kasei suspiciously, then at Naruto again.

"Then how come there's no mark on his head?"

"'Cause I healed it, duh Kakashi-sensei!"

Though hardly believing the story, the jounin accepted it and they began to follow him and the others out of the gate. Kasei nudged Sakura as they walked.

"Thanks for that."

She giggled again.

"Sensei wouldn't have really cared. It's just more fun to leave him wondering."

Kasei laughed, then sped up slightly to catch Kakashi.

"Hey, where are we headed?"

"An volcanic island. Well, barely that. More like a big rock directly between O'uzu Island and Tea country. There's a fortress which covers almost the entire area and miles of catacombs beneath. That's where the jounin exams have taken place for decades."

"Anything we should know about the place?"

Kakashi trained his single eye on him.

"Nothing that I'm allowed to tell you." He answered wryly.

"Fair enough. One more question."

"Fine. What?"

Kasei had out a small map of the shinobi countries and had located the general area of the island. Pointing to it, he looked up at the jounin.

"We have to be there to register for the exam tomorrow. This is two days of travel, even at the highest pace possible."

"Well see that's the thing…running isn't our fastest pace possible."

He stared at Kasei evenly until he realized what was expected.

"You've got to be kidding. I only did that before because it was urgent! Besides, you _hated _it! It's uncomfortable the first time, and almost painful the next few."

"I've been watching you train. You've been working on it and improving the range. We'll go as fast and far as we can, then rest tonight. Tomorrow, you'll only need to use it once. Oh, and don't tell the others. Naruto and Sakura might not like the idea of traveling that way again."

"You just want to show off when you show up and I'm the best way to do it, don't you?" grumbled Kasei, giving.

Kakashi laughed.

"Who, me? Would I do a thing like that?"

Kasei just threw a kunai at him and dropped back behind, ending the conversation. Despite his protests, however, he appeared to quickly drop into an almost meditative state, closing his eyes and relying on his hearing and sense of smell to keep him on track. Afraid to disturb him, Sakura tried to catch up with her jounin leader.

"Kakashi-sensei, what did you tell Kasei-kun to do? He's been quiet for almost an hour now and hasn't opened his eyes either."

Kakashi lifted his headband briefly and glanced back at Kasei, then nodded and dropped the cover back into place.

"I want it to be a surprise, so I won't tell you, but I will say that it requires a lot of his special chakra. He's concentrating on building up a massive amount and storing it to use tomorrow."

"I don't like surprises, Kakashi-sensei! What are you planning?"

The jounin held firm.

"You'll see tomorrow."

Sakura glared at him but soon gave up. They traveled along quietly (not counting Naruto's ceaseless chatter after he woke up) for the rest of the day. Just as the last rays of sunlight disappeared, they reached the southeastern border of Fire country. Vast, sandy shores lead up to the ocean. Upon seeing the water, Naruto looked around wildly.

"So where's the boat, Kakashi? We need to get moving if we're going to get there by tomorrow morning!"

"There isn't a boat. Transportation will be provided tomorrow."

The various chuunin were all confused, some outraged.

"But...but how can we get there fast enough? It's not even close enough to _see _yet!"

Kurenai put her hand on her student's shoulder and pointed straight out.

"Of course it is. See? It's right there."

Kiba squinted as he looked out over the water.

"Wait…that little speck of land out there?"

"Yes, that's it." Hinata had activated her Byakugan and was examining it as closely as she could. "There's a large fortress on it but…I can't see through the walls!"

"A common complaint of all Hyuugas to see the compound. Don't ask me how, but they've made the walls impossible to see through." Her sensei explained. "Don't worry though, you'll see plenty of it tomorrow. Now get some rest, the hard work starts tomorrow."

The Konoha ninja began setting up camp quietly until, once again, Naruto shattered the stillness.

"Hey! Where's all the other people? Shouldn't there be other groups camping here too? Shouldn't we have seen some of them?"

Kakashi had already opened his book and threw a rock at Naruto without taking his eyes off the page.

"Shut up. They're all already at the island."

"But that mean's we're late! Everyone beat us there! Why did we-_ugh._"

Kasei had appeared behind Naruto and driven his stiffened fingers into the same point as earlier that morning. Kakashi didn't even bother to look up at his fallen student.

"I assume he tripped and hit his head again?"

Kasei vanished and materialized up on a tree branch, seated with his legs crossed.

"Apparently. He should watch where he's going. Now all of you shut up and sleep, otherwise there might be a few more accidents."

The ninja grumbled a bit, but soon settled down to sleep. Kurenai and Asuma began to debate the watch orders, but Kakashi silenced them and gestured to his meditating team member in the tree.

"He doesn't sleep, and both his dog and cats are out and about. Just sleep, nothing will get near us."

Reassured, the jounin settled in, while above them, their strange companion remained unmoving throughout the night.

The next day, the Konoha ninja woke to soft music. The chuunin stumbled out of bed, followed by their groggy jounin instructors.

"Where is that _coming _from?"

Kakashi was again buried in his book.

"Similar to last night, I ask you to direct your attention upwards."

They all craned their heads back and saw Kasei, still on the same branch and playing his small flute.

"Hey! Cut that out, you woke us all up!" Kiba roared.

"What's wrong with that?" came a voice from behind him.

The Inuzuka jumped, then whirled around to see Kasei standing behind them with the hood of his coat up.

"Why didn't you let us sleep?"

Kasei lazily let his gaze drift up to the sky, noting the sun's unusually high position.

"Do you mean _besides _the fact that it's nearly noon?"

The reaction to his statement was similar to the result of suddenly waking Tsunade.

"WHAT! Why-

"We're so LATE!"

"Final check in is exactly 12!"

In seconds it seemed, the entire troupe was dressed and packed, ready to go.

"Alright Kakashi-sensei!" demanded Sakura. "What's your grand plan to get us there so fast?"

"Well, it really mostly involves Kasei…"

The eleven ninja all looked at the lightning specialist, who sighed. A close observer could hear him mutter '_troublesome' _under his breath.

"Okay, fine. Follow me."

He led them down to the beach and stopped just before reaching the surf, where the sand was still damp from high tide.

"I'm just saying in advance, I'm blaming Kakashi for this. It was his idea. Any complaints can go to him."

"Wait, what are you doing?" exclaimed Naruto, then noticed that his bloodline was activated. "Hey, you'd better not-"

Before he could finish, Kasei turned to face the far off island and kneeled, then slammed his hands into the wet sand. Naruto's complaint cut off in a yell as a wave of electricity arced through the ground and encompassed them all.

The jounin exam compound was almost a hundred miles away from the shore of Fire Country. In the center of the compound was a large courtyard, which was currently filled with dozens of chuunin teams. At one end was a table with a pair of jounin seated at it. One of them consulted a list, which appeared to be a sign in sheet.

"Well, everyone's here…except the Konoha teams."

"Well, they'd better get here in the next minute, or else they're all disqualified."

Another jounin ran up to the table.

"I have the latest report from the wall guards. They've seen no signs of any more approaching ninja. There's no way anyone could make it from shore to here before the time."

The first jounin glanced at a pocket watch.

"Thirty seconds."

The second began pulling out the official documents for disqualification.

"There's no point in waiting now."

"Fifteen seconds."

The jounin had just begun to put pen to paper when a flash filled the courtyard. The air in front of the table seemed to fill with crackling electricity and every spectator shielded their eyes from the display. It faded just a split second later and, when the jounin looked again, there stood the Konoha group, along with two dogs and a bizarre bipedal cat, and with a hooded ninja kneeling in front of them all

"Yo. Are we late?" the silver-haired ninja of the group asked.

The two seated jounin just stared blankly.

"Uh, well…no, but…HOW DID YOU DO THAT?"

The hooded ninja stood and threw back his hood, revealing a boy of no more than 17 with silver-streaked black hair. His identifying hitai-ate was nowhere to be seen, but on the backs of his half-finger gloves were metal plates, engraved with Konoha leaf symbols.

"I've decided to call it _Raikyuuto no jutsu_. Though it really isn't meant for such long distances." The boy said, and shot a glare over at the silver-haired jounin.

"That…that's not a chuunin level technique!" stammered the jounin.

"Yeah, that's why I'm here for the jounin exam."

"Bu-but that's not even a _KAGE _level technique! I didn't think it was _possible_! You should have made jounin a long time ago!"

The silver haired ninja stepped forwards and put a hand on the strange lightning user's shoulder.

"He's been busy. Anyway, I'm Hatake Kakashi, escorting chuunin Haruno Sakura, Uzumaki Naruto, and Kasei."

The other two jounin rushed up.

"Yuuhi Kurenai, with Aburame Shino, Hyuuga Hinata, and Inuzuka Kiba."

"Sarutobi Asuma, accompanying Akimichi Chouji, Nara Shikamaru, and Yamanaka Ino."

Snapping out of their shock, the two jounin hastily scribbled down the information.

"Good, good, okay. You made it just in time. The first examiner should be arriving any minute. "

Just then, a slim woman stepped out of a door.

"Everyone, pay attention!" she yelled. Instantly, the courtyard quieted. "Good. Welcome to the Jounin Exams. I know for the first exam, most of you think there will be a written test, correct?" Many ninja nodded. "Well guess what? WRONG! We're not wasting our time giving you some bullshit theory quiz! Sure they taught it in school, but when it comes down to being a ninja, it's not about who the second daimyo of your nation was or how to calculate the trajectory of a kunai. If you can't throw a kunai already, you'd better leave now." She glared around the courtyard, but no one stirred. "Good. Now, being a ninja is about getting the mission done and staying alive. So, for the first segment of this exam, we're going to test your POWER!"

She clapped her hands and a pillar of stone rose from the earth, easily ten feet wide and fifteen tall.

"Genjutsu types and anything similar, stay to the side, we've got another test for you unless you have a technique to use for this. Everyone else, form a line and come up."

Some chuunin stepped away, but only a few.

"Hm, genjutsu has become less popular in the last few years." Lamented Kurenai as her students walked away.

Kakashi glanced up from his book briefly.

"It shouldn't come as a surprise. As chakra techniques evolve, genjutsus become less and less effective on skilled shinobi. Their best use is confusing and delaying the enemy, not directly defeating them.

"True." The female jounin sighed. "But I've always felt it was the most artful of the ninja skills."

Kakashi just rolled his one eye and returned to his book while Asuma laughed quietly, but patted Kurenai on the shoulder comfortingly. Back in the assembling line, Naruto was bouncing excitedly.

"This test is _easy._ There's no way we'll fail this!"

Sakura sighed and slapped him on the back of the head.

"Don't be so cocky, Naruto. It may be easy for us, because we have the right techniques for it, but not _everyone _has powerful attacks. In fact, it's really not a fair test!"

"Destroying the block isn't the point of the test." Said Kasei quietly, making sure no one else overheard. "It's to draw out abilities."

"What do you mean?"

"There will almost certainly be a portion of this exam that pits us against each other, much like the last portion of the chuunin exam. They put this test here to force us to reveal our most powerful abilities, so we aren't hiding a trump card in the fights! It takes away any advantage."

Sakura's eyes widened.

"You're right. But what can we do about it."

Kasei shrugged.

"Just destroy it with the most basic attacks. You have no choice but to use your chakra-enhanced strength, but don't let on that you know any real taijutsu. Just walk up to it and hit it. Naruto, just use the basic Rasengan. No one knows that you can throw it, so don't let them find out."

"But what about you?"

He just grinned.

"I'll think of something. Don't worry." A sudden cry of _Gatsuuga _echoed around the courtyard. "There goes Kiba. That means either Hinata or Shino is up next. I wonder what they can do…"

"Shino's easy. He just lets his bugs suck out all the chakra holding up the pillar." As if to confirm Sakura's words, a loud crash signified the fall of the stone. "I'm not sure about Hinata though…"

"I am." Naruto spoke up. "She knows what she's doing. C'MON HINATA-CHAN!" he bellowed at the girl.

She blushed at the sound of his voice and appeared to freeze, then her face set determinedly. She barely whispered the name of her technique and only those close enough could hear.

"_Shugo Hakke Rokujuuyonshou!"_

She began to sweep her arms in an intricate pattern in front of her and, wherever her hand went, a slash appeared on the rock in front of her. She sped up quickly, creating a deadly lattice of invisible chakra blades that bit deeply into the rock. In just seconds, the imposing mass of rock splintered into thousands of small chunks. As soon as it fell, Naruto began cheering.

"Woo! Yeah, go Hinata! I'll bet Neji couldn't even pull that one off!"

The Hyuuga girl blushed deeply as she walked away.

"A-arigato, Naruto-kun." she managed.

Kasei watched her walk away.

"Impressive. I never thought she'd be the type to develop such a powerful attack."

"She didn't." Naruto calmed down. "I saw her do that before when I was on a mission with her team. It's actually a defense!"

"So she adapted it? That's…even more incredible, if anything."

They waited in line for a long time, idly watching each of the competing chuunin and noting their techniques. Chouji had the easiest time, simply growing to a massive size and crushing the stone, while Shikamaru managed to shatter it with a high powered _Kage Nui _(Shadow Sewing) technique. Ino had remained with the genjutsu types, her mind control techniques being hardly suitable for such a situation. Finally, it was time for Team Kakashi. Calmly, Sakura walked up to the pillar and looked it up and down, then drew back a fist and smashed it into the surface. The surrounding students murmured in awe as the solid material splintered. Naruto drew a similar reaction as his Rasengan ground away the block before shattering it. When it was Kasei's turn, he examined the target for a moment before walking up to it and attaching something. When he turned away, an explosive note could be seen.

"Hey, kid!" she called to his retreating back. "You're not done. One explosive note won't tear THIS down, I've made sure."

Kasei paused, then raised his hand and snapped his fingers. The note hissed for a split second, then went off.

BOOM!

The explosion completely obliterated the structure and the shock wave nearly knocked the examiner over. Once the dust cleared she looked back at Kasei, who was again walking away.

"HEY! That's not possible kid, how'd you do that?"

"I changed the note a bit. It wasn't too hard." He called over his shoulder before rejoining his teammates.

"What _was _that note, Kasei?" asked Sakura.

In response, he pulled out a simple explosive note, then withdrew a brush and ink from another pouch.

"It's fairly simple. I spent some time experimenting a while ago and discovered that a few extra marks could increase the power tenfold." He added a few more brush strokes, then put away the brush and handed the note to Sakura. "Here, keep it. You can figure it out on your own later."

After a short time, everyone had tested their skills against the solid stone.

"Very good!" called the examiner. "Almost all of you have passed. That is all for today. This was just a preliminary exam, so get some rest. Tomorrow, the real work begins!"

As the chuunin dispersed, the Konoha candidates all turned to their sensei.

"So where are we staying tonight? We don't have to spend the entire time in our tents, do we?"

Kakashi finally decided to put away his book.

"No, they've supplied rooms for everyone. Here are the keys."

He tossed one to each of them and they all rushed off. The jounin watched their students until they vanished, then turned to their own quarters.


	22. Chapter 22

Chapter 21: Some title I haven't thought of Chapter 22: The Real Test Begins

"Alright, everyone listen up!"

The assembled chuunin snapped to attention. The night had passed uneventfully, and they were now assembled in the courtyard.

"The remainder of this exam will only take the next two days!" continued the examiner. "Unfortunately for you, it is our job to make them be the worst two days of your lives!" The chuunin groaned. "Today will be a series of small tests, like the one yesterday. They are designed to test both your skills and endurance. I warn you, chakra depletion is not an excuse! Find ways to do these tasks with minimal or no chakra, or else I guarantee you will be exhausted in no time. Now, the first test will be a short fight against a jounin master. Taijutsu only, no weapons or ninjutsu. Chakra enhanced taijutsu techniques are acceptable."

"But wait! I'm not a taijutsu type!" protested a chuunin.

The examiner glared at the girl, who quailed beneath him.

"We're not telling you to win. In fact, we're not _expecting _you to win. You will be fighting one of the finest taijutsu masters in all the Hidden Villages. Just prove you have a passable proficiency! Now, here comes your opponent!"

Something clicked in Kasei's head.

"Wait, one of the finest taijutsu masters…surely they don't mean-"

"_Dainamikku Entorii!"_

The center of the prepared arena practically exploded while the Konoha chuunin groaned.

"Nooo, not him!"

The same unknown voice bellowed out,

"Introducing Konoha's legendary beast, Maito Gai!" The jumpsuit clad jounin appeared in his classic 'nice guy' pose. "I will be your opponent today, to test the power of your youth!"

While he ranted, Team Kakashi grabbed the other Konoha ninja and began dragging them to the back of the line.

"C'mon, C'mon! If we go to the back, maybe he'll be too tired to kill us!"

"Wh-what do you mean, Naruto-kun? He's from Konoha, he wouldn't hurt us!"

Sakura, who had experienced Lee's training first hand, just pushed them even faster.

"Not deliberately, no. But that man has absolutely no idea what normal human endurance can take. I can't believe they chose him for this exam! The only two people I've ever seen stand up to him in a taijutsu contest for more than ten seconds are Neji and Kasei-kun here."

Those not on Kasei's team stared at him wide-eyed.

"You took on a jounin? When? How did it go?"

Kasei just shook his head beneath his concealing hood and refused to answer. The only answer that could be gotten out of Sakura or Naruto was simply, "You'll see."

After a few moments, a chuunin suddenly went flying out of the arena, to Gai's victorious cries.

"Well, that didn't take long. The rest should go just as fast."

The prediction proved to be true. Despite being the last group in the long line, it was barely an hour before the Konoha ninja began to be called on. After that, it was barely a minute before Kiba was brutally blasted out of the arena. Shino didn't even last that long. Hinata's speed allowed her to dodge and weave for several minutes, but soon she too was subject to one of the hyperactive jounin's powerful blows. When Team Asuma came up, they faired little better. Shikamaru took one look at Gai and forfeited, while Ino lasted perhaps ten seconds. Chouji fared the best by far, as his size and strength allowed him to take several powerful hits that would have finished a normal opponent, but he too fell after just a few minutes. Finally, Team Kakashi was the only one left.

"Well, who wants to go first?" asked Kasei.

"You're definitely last! You'll make Sakura-chan and I look bad!"

Kasei nodded, and the other two ended up deciding the order through a quick rock-paper-scissors contest. Naruto lost, and walked up to the arena nervously.

"Ah, Naruto-kun!" bellowed Gai. "It is good to see you. Now fight!"

Naruto barely had time to prepare before Gai launched at him. His wind-enhanced speed allowed him to barely dodge in time, and he managed to land a surprising blow on Gai's back.

"Impressive! Just what I would expect from the student of my lifelong rival and the sannin Jiraiya!"

Surprised murmurs rippled through the audience at the announcement of Naruto's sannin teacher but in the back of the audience, Kakashi just rolled his eyes. Naruto, meanwhile, was back on the defensive. Only through numerous bursts of wind to push him along did he manage to dodge the multitude of attacks and even retaliate a few times. Finally, one of Gai's kicks slipped through and Naruto was hurled to the edge of the arena, though the blow lacked any damaging power. Naruto began to rise, but one of the jounin examiners stopped him from continuing.

"But I can keep fighting!" he protested.

"It doesn't matter. We already said the idea was not to win, just to observe your skill. Be proud, you've done the best of anyone so far."

Naruto nodded sullenly and walked off.

"NEXT!"

Sakura swallowed nervously and made her way onto the floor.

"Sakura! At last I can see what the teachings of the great Tsunade and my own student have done for you!"

Again, the room was abuzz with chatter after discovering that this girl had been taught by yet another sannin.

"Let us begin! Show me that incredible strength!"

Gai lunged with a powerful kick. As he approached, Sakura's face suddenly set determinedly. Instead of ducking or dodging the blow, she raised both hands and caught it cleanly. The crowd suddenly hushed and even Sakura's teammates, who had seen her phenomenal strength before, were amazed. She smirked at the jounin, then snapped her foot up. The blurring speed caught Gai off guard and the blow connected solidly. Though she had not enhanced her foot with chakra, the kick was still enough to knock her opponent several feet back. He shook his head in surprise.

"Excellent! Lee has taught you well!"

He again came at Sakura, but her medic evasive training kicked in and she began bobbing and weaving back and forth, her hands held up to guard her face.

"Fascinating…" Kasei looked around to see that Kakashi had appeared next to him and was commenting on the match. "Lee's training has increased her speed, but she seems to have taken little of the fighting style. Instead, she looks more like she's…boxing, maybe."

As they watched, Sakura continued to dodge until she saw a brief opening. Her fist lashed out once and connected with Gai's chest. Unlike the kick, the blow sent him flying into a wall and left a sizeable crater.

"Definitely a boxer." Confirmed Kakashi. "That simple stance seems to be a perfect defense…I wonder where she learned it."

Kasei let a small, proud smile cross his features.

"So apparently she learned more than I thought she did back in Suna. And she changed it to fit her own needs."

"You mean you taught her that?" asked the one-eyed jounin.

"Oh, that's right, you were unconscious. I gave them all some tips, and Sakura apparently has made the best use of it."

By now, Gai had gotten to his feet and returned to the arena, but the examiners cut him off.

"That's enough. The match goes to Haruno Sakura, the first chuunin victory of the day!"

The spectators were silent for a long moment, then burst into cheers. Gai was grinning, with theatrical tears streaming down his face.

"You are truly amazing, Sakura-chan!"

She smiled and bowed in thanks before skipping off. Naruto met her with a huge hug.

"That was amazing, Sakura-chan!"

Sakura chan blushed bright red, but she tried to cover her embarrassment with anger.

"Let me down, baka! There's still another match left!"

The blonde finally set her down and they turned back to watch Kasei. The hooded boy walked calmly onto the floor and faced Gai.

"Come now, do not hide your youthful face from me! Let me see who you are!"

Kasei sighed in mild annoyance.

"You _know_ who I am, Gai-san."

He pulled back his hood and immediately Gai's face became much more serious.

"Kasei-san, good to see you." He turned to face the examiners and raised his hand. "I would like to forfeit this match."

Shocked whispers echoed around the courtyard and even the examiners looked confused.

"Gai, we cannot allow the boy to pass without testing him. If you forfeit, his scores will be 0."

"No, he will receive full marks!" roared Gai, his eager persona returning. "I, Maito Gai, have faced him, with my best student at my side as well! He defeated both of us in unarmed combat, without a blow being landed on him! I would stake my status as a jounin of Konoha, as well as every bit of youthful power within me, that he could defeat any ninja within this facility in a taijutsu contest."

The head examiner eyed the green-clad jounin closely, then the expressionless boy.

"Alright Gai, I'll take your word for it this time. But be warned, he will face other taijutsu-based challenges in the next few days. If you lied, I will be sure that he never makes jounin, and you will be permanently demoted to chuunin rank."

"That is acceptable. Arigato."

He walked away from the arena, accompanied by Kasei.

"You know, it would have been easier just to fight me." Muttered Kasei.

"But there would have been no point in that. I know as well as you do that you can beat me with little effort. I trust you won't prove me wrong."

"I'll be sure not to. Arigato, Gai."

He broke away to rejoin his team. Kakashi appeared almost concerned.

"That was kind of Gai, but it may have made you some more enemies."

Kasei glanced around inconspicuously to see some chuunin watching him resentfully for getting out of the test.

"You've done something out of the ordinary for both tests so far. I'd advise trying to keep out of the spotlight." Warned Kakashi.

"I don't _try _to. It just happens. Whatever. When's the next test?"

Sakura took his and Naruto's hands and lead them away.

"I heard someone say it was inside. C'mon, lets go find it."

For the rest of the day, the chuunin candidates trekked from test to test. The content of the exams were anything from lighting a candle using a jutsu to dodging flaming kunai. The tests seemed bizarre and sometimes even juvenile (such as the dodge ball game), but there were examiners marking down scores at each one and after each part, more and more candidates were disqualified. Some simply collapsed from chakra exhaustion while the examiners removed others. Finally, at seven o'clock that night, the tests were finally called to a halt.

"To everyone who made it this far, good job!" called out the head examiner. "Tomorrow there will only be two more exams, one of which will involve the teams you came with, while the other will be a tournament challenge, like your previous chuunin exam. That's everything, have a good night."

Once again, the chuunin began to disperse to their rooms. Kasei walked up the circular staircase slowly, deep in though, and was halfway down the hall to his room when four ninja appeared in front of him.

"Yeah, this is him sensei. What should we do with him?"

The oldest of the four stepped forwards.

"So you're Konoha's new favorite ninja, Kasei."

Kasei let out a short laugh.

"Favorite? Hardly."

"Oh really? Then explain to me why each time you had a Konoha examiner, they claimed you were too good for them and passed you unconditionally?"

"I suppose it never occurred to you that they were telling the truth?"

The ninja, whose headband identified him as a Rain ninja, glared.

"No chuunin has enough power to command respect from all his superiors. Konoha is just trying to make us believe it has incredible chuunin and to scare us all."

"Believe what you will. If you'll excuse me, I'll be going to bed."

The other three ninja stepped up to support the first.

"You're not going anywhere past here. Konoha's been in its position of power for too long. We will destroy you, then Orochimaru will lead us to victory against your village!"

At the sound of Orochimaru's name, Kasei lost his bored expression.

"You may attack me all you like, but do not threaten my village. _Especially _if you claim Orochimaru as an ally." He took one step back, then vanished into the darkness.

The Rain nins looked around wildly.

"Find him! He couldn't have gotten far, I didn't feel him use any chakra!"

"_Perhaps," _a voice echoed around them, _"you didn't feel it because you CAN'T."_

The Rain jounin snarled.

"A punk like you can't hide his chakra that well from me. Where are you?!"

"_Here." _Kasei appeared in the midst of the four ninja, holding a shimmering ball of pure electricity. They jumped, trying to bring weapons to bear, but not before he could act. "And now, goodbye."

Kasei dropped the energy globe. The lightning hissed as it spread across the floor and crawled up the Rain nin. Their pained screams were cut short as their bodies overloaded and they fell unconscious. Kasei looked around with a satisfied smirk before another voice called out of the dark hallway.

"Wouldn't it have been easier to just hit them without all the theatrical teleporting and the fancy energy ball?"

Kasei looked up to see Shikamaru approaching at his usual lazy pace.

"Yeah, probably. Sometimes though, the best way to truly beat someone isn't to just knock them down. It's to make them _fear _you."

Shikamaru stopped a few feet away.

"I guess you're right. It all seems much more troublesome though."

"That it is, but it keeps things interesting. Want to help me carry these idiots down to the guardhouse?"

"I will, but…answer me something first."

Kasei had been halfway through lifting one of the rain ninja, but dropped him unconcernedly and straightened.

"Sure. What is it?"

"I was watching the whole fight. I figured you could handle yourself, so I didn't step in. Just when they were about to attack, though, I saw you do something that I've only heard of, never seen before…"

"The Shadow Shift technique, I'm assuming. Your clan hasn't had access to it for years, correct?"

"Yeah, my dad said it's because a traitor to our clan, the only one with the ability to use several of our techniques, ran off with it. I assume that person was your mother.

"If you consider her a traitor, this conversation will likely result in your dead body being thrown into the ocean." Said Kasei coldly.

"I told you before, I think the conflict between the Nara and Inuzuka clans is troublesome and a waste of time. I believe Kiba's beginning to see that as well. Anyway…I was wondering if I could convince you to teach me."

"You? Last I checked, you hardly cared what went on. Why do you need it now?"

Shikamaru gritted his teeth and stared at the floor.

"I've done well enough in this exam, but I know I'm out of my league here. I won't be able to keep up in the fights tomorrow and, quite frankly, I don't want to die."

Kasei studied the Nara genius for a long moment before reaching a conclusion.

"Well, I won't teach you. But I will give you these."

He pulled out a scroll and from it summoned a small stack of other scrolls. He selected one of them and put away the others, then held out the scroll.

"Here. This has the three highest shadow techniques, and the basic teachings of one school of...technique, I guess you'd call it."

"Teachings?"

"The basic philosophy is that all darkness is shadow. I believe that as far as you know, there has to be a light source for there to be a shadow. This eliminates that and allows you to manipulate the darkness without any light. In the day, that's not much use, but at night…"

"The shadow would be indefinite. I'll study these tonight. Can I call on you if I need help?"

"I've only mastered the Shadow Shift and the Shadow Puppet techniques. As for the third…you're on your own. I was never taught that one and I couldn't figure it out myself."

Shikamaru took the scroll and, surprisingly, bowed to Kasei.

"Arigato. I know you don't trust my clan, so it means a great deal that you're willing to share this with me."

"I don't trust the clan, but I trust you enough to know that you'll only share it with clan members you feel deserve it. Besides," Kasei lifted two of the unconscious bodies and began to start off, "knowing you, you're too lazy to figure out even one."

Shikamaru's eyes narrowed as he lifted the other two and followed him.

"Is that a challenge?"

His cousin just laughed.

"It could be, but I don't see why. Just figure them out and maybe I'll throw in a few of my own techniques as a bonus if you get them fast."

The Nara sighed, his determined air already slipping.

"Troublesome but…alright. Now let's get rid of these guys."

Kasei grinned and nodded, then headed off to find a guard.


	23. Chapter 23

Chapter 23: Shikamaru- A Brief, Random Interlude Chapter 23: Shikamaru- A Brief, Random Interlude

Kasei's wide smile never wavered as they began to climb up to the wall top in search of a guard. Upon reaching the small guardhouse, however, his grin slipped.

"Something's not right up here."

He silently lowered the two Rain nins to the ground and moved to the door, motioning for Shikamaru to stay back. He pushed open the door and looked inside, but it was pitch black within. It wasn't until he let his vision slip into his infrared-like bloodline that he could see the overturned furniture and four inert bodies. By the electronic activity in their nervous system, he could see that they were still alive and barely hurt, just unconscious.

"Who can take down four jounin with hardly a fight…?" he muttered to himself, then suddenly heard a slight scuffle from outside. Rushing out, he found Shikamaru standing unharmed, but with a thin chain coiling around him and immobilizing him. A slim, dark clad figure, a few inches shorter than the Nara boy, held one end of the chain and drew out a dagger when it heard Kasei come out. Without hesitating, Kasei vanished on the spot and reappeared an inch away from the attacker, delivering a series of quick blows before slashing at the chains with his transformed arm, freeing Shikamaru. His captor collapsed from the attacks and lay on the ground, gasping for breath.

"Another Past assassin. You guys just don't know when to quit, do you?"

"Not…an assassin." The attacker gasped out in a feminine voice. She reached up and pulled off her hood and mask. "You've…grown since I last saw you, Kasei…."

Kasei's eyes widened and he instantly dropped down to his knees next to her.

"Oh god, Jemnei. Are you alright?"

"I think so." She winced as she sat up. "You didn't hit that hard."

Shikamaru looked down at the strange, strawberry-blonde haired girl.

"Wait, you know her?"

"Remember my first opponent in the chuunin exams. This is her. She's a Past nin but a bit rebellious…unless things have changed?" he raised an eyebrow, but she shook her head.

"No. The council is trying to find a way to take you down, I managed to convince them that I should be the one to come spy on you, since I knew you best. I came to warn you about it."

"Well then tell them if they set one foot on this shore, I'll rip them apart." Kasei growled.

Jemnei just giggled at that.

"Oh, I will. But not now, they don't expect me back until morning, so I want to hang around with you until then. Unless you're gonna go spend time with your _giiirrrlfriiiend."_ She began to pout, but Kasei just rolled his eyes.

"No, she's not here."

"Oh good! And by the way…" she leaned in close and whispered. "Who's the hottie I tied up?" she shot Shikamaru a glance.

Kasei groaned, bracing himself for the inevitable.

"Another Konoha ninja, Nara Shikamaru."

The girl's eyes widened.

"_Nara _Shikamaru? Wasn't your mom…"

"Yeah, he's my cousin, I think."

Jemnei squealed and instantly jumped on Shikamaru.

"I've always wanted to meet more of Kasei's family! His mom was so _nice _and now you're here!" She stepped back again and looked the confused boy up and down, then glomped him again. "And you're so _cute!"_

Shikamaru staggered back and looked desperately at his cousin.

"_This _is the one who took out the entire wall guard without raising an

alarm?"

Kasei winced.

"Well…she's more serious on the job. Sometimes it seems like that mask

is the only thing holding in her real personality. Once it's off…_boom."_

"So…how do I get her off?" Shikamaru looked down at the girl, who was still latched onto him.

"I've never figured it out. Good luck."

Kasei began to walk off with a grin.

"Wait! You can't just leave me here, come back! What should I do?"

"Hell if I know. Good luck."

With that, he vanished, leaving Shikamaru grumbling in his wake. The strange kunoichi beamed up at him.

"I guess you're stuck with me now!"

"…Troublesome. Help me drag these Rain ninja into the guard house."

Jemnei broke away from him and began to pout.

"You don't _like _me, do you?"

Shikamaru groaned miserably, cursing Kasei as he dragged the unconscious ninja into the guardhouse. Inside, he carefully arranged both the Rain nins and the jounin guards to look like they had fought. As soon as he was satisfied with his work he went back out to find Jemnei still standing in the same place, her arms crossed and her lower lip thrust out. The Nara sighed and rubbed the back of his neck uncomfortably.

"Ok, ok. I like you, really. It's just that we only met a few minutes ago, and I find most girls…"

"Troublesome?" finished Jemnei, the pout replaced by a delighted smile. "You sound just like Kasei-kun when you say that. So, what's there to do around here?"

"Nothing that I'm aware of." Muttered Shikamaru. "I was on my way to bed."

"Bed?" the girl protested. "But it's still early! Bed's no fun now. Unless…" she sidled up close to him and spoke in a mock-whisper, "you want some company."

For one of the first times in his life, Shikamaru blushed heavily. He pushed away from the girl, muttering incoherently.

"Fine then, no bed. So what should we do?"

"Aw, I was just starting to like the bed idea." She shot him a lusty wink, turning the Nara bright red a second time. "But since you don't seem to _want _it, I guess well have to find something _else _to do."

Shikamaru just shook his head.

"No. I have to train. There are a few techniques I'm going to need for tomorrow."

"Ok! I'll help!"

Despite his protests, Jemnei followed him back to his room, instantly claiming the bed. Shikamaru eventually decided just to ignore the girl and moved off to the other side of the room to begin studying the jutsu scroll Kasei had given him. After a few minutes, however, a flash of blinding light suddenly filled the room. The boy was forced to shield his eyes until the glare subsided. When he finally looked up, he saw Jemnei with an innocent grin on her face, his bag lying open beside her and one of his light bombs in her hands.

"Whoops!"

"You're just determined to be annoying, aren't you?"

The girl glared and threw the spent bomb at him.

"You're _mean!_ I don't like you, _meanie!_" she jutted her lower lip out again and threw herself down on the bed, hiding her face in the pillow. Shikamaru walked over and looked down at her, surprisingly feeling a small twinge of regret. With a resigned sigh, he reached down and put a hand on her should.

"Hey, c'mon now. I just need to work…I'm busy, that's all." He gritted his teeth, then forced out the next part. "I'm sorry, okay?"

As soon as the words left his mouth, she looked up at him, beaming.

"That's all I wanted to hear. You're real cute when you're confused, know that?"

Before he could even think of a reply, she grabbed the front of his vest and pulled him down, then kissed him hard. At the touch of their lips, the Nara's mind completely overloaded and he just remained motionless, trying to understand what was happening, until she pushed him away.

"There, now that that's out of the way, you go do your training or whatever. I'll just sit here."

"Wait…wha-?"

But she had already turned back over and hidden beneath the covers. As the fog slowly lifted from his mind, he stumbled back over to where he had left the scroll and tried to begin reading again. A short while later when he looked up again, Jemnei was clearly asleep, curled up with her head buried in the pillow. Shaking his head at the strange turn of the night, he returned to his studying.

Hours later, Jemnei woke with a start and glanced at the bedside clock. 5:30 a.m. '_Oh no!'_ she thought. '_I fell asleep!' _Hurriedly, she scrambled out of bed while straightening her black gi to look presentable and reaching for her mask.

"And where are you going?"

She jumped and spun around. Shikamaru was there, sitting against the far wall with his eyes half open.

"I've got to go! I'm supposed to make my report at dawn!"

Shaking off the last traces of sleep, Shikamaru climbed to his feet and walked over to her.

"Back to being so uptight. I think I liked you better hyperactive."

She let out a nervous giggle.

"Well, there's no time for that. I've got to get out of here. Say bye to Kasei for me."

She started for the door but, just before she pulled her hood and mask back on, Shikamaru caught her arm and pulled her back. Her protest was cut off sharply as he suddenly kissed her. She squeaked in surprise and almost fell over when he broke away.

"There." He whispered. "Now we're even. It's just not right for a girl to start the first kiss, but oh well. _Now _you can go."

Blushing furiously, Jemnei tied her mask on and darted away.

"Sayonara, Shika-kun."

With a small smile, Shikamaru turned away from the door and began to collect his work from the previous night. Despite Jemnei's distractions, he had managed to accomplish a fair amount and was looking at the exams today with slightly less apprehension than the day before.

"So," cam a voice from the doorway, "have fun?"

He turned to see Kasei leaning against the door with a mischievous smirk on his face.

"You again. Why did you leave me with that troublesome girl last night?"

Kasei just laughed as he wandered in.

"Oh, give it up. She's strange, but she's also one in a million. You'll never meet another girl like her, and judging by the expression on her face when I ran into her a moment ago, you'll never need one either."

"She certainly is…interesting."

"Interesting?" Kasei's expression widened into a full grin. "Coming from you, that's like saying you'll marry her or something. Imagine, Nara Shikamaru finding a girl _interesting."_

Shikamaru glowered.

"Shut. Up. What do you want anyway?"

"Well, mostly to see how my attempts to play matchmaker would pay off…"

"You _knew _that would happen?!"

"I didn't _know_, per se, but I had my suspicions. Honestly, look at it. You're a lazy-ass cloud watcher with little to no interest in life. She's a hyperactive kunoichi, with an interest in _everything_, and also the ability to kick your ass five times over. You were practically made for each other!" Kasei continued grinning, but finally calmed down slightly. "But that aside, I was coming to see how you were doing with the new jutsus."

Shikamaru sighed and slumped down on the bed.

"Well, I've managed both the Puppet and Shift techniques, but you were right about the third, it's insanely difficult. I've almost had it a few times, but then it just slips away."

"Oh well." Kasei turned back to the door. "You've got a few hours until the combat exams. Make the most of it."

He vanished again, leaving Shikamaru to his thoughts.


	24. Chapter 24

Chapter 24: End of the Exam Chapter 24: End of the Exam

Once again, the chuunin examinees assembled in the central courtyard. Each of them seemed eager, but also overwhelmingly nervous as they waited for the next test to be announced. Finally, an examiner walked out to speak to them.

"Good morning everyone! As we said yesterday, this exam will be oriented towards teamwork! We have made every effort to ensure that, without working together, it will not be possible to complete this task. Now, please turn your attention back to the arena from yesterday." Everyone looked back and saw that, in the center of the circle, stood another jounin. "This is another fighting exam! The three of you will work together to bring down your opponent, but we've thrown in a twist. Only one of you may attack, using any offensive techniques they have at their disposal. Only one of you may defend, again using any shielding techniques you have. If the attacker takes any defensive measures, including simple dodging, you will be disqualified, and the opposite is true for the defender!"

"What about the third?" someone yelled out.

"Your third teammate may attack or defend, using only taijutsu! If they use any type of jutsu, they will also be disqualified! You will have a few moments to decide who will be assigned each role."

Team Kakashi instantly grouped together.

"Well, what's it gonna be?" asked Naruto eagerly. "This could be hard, since-"

He was cut off with a slap to the head.

"It's not hard at all!" insisted Sakura. "Since my punches have the best power at low chakra cost, I'll be the offensive person. Naruto, you can stay in close and be the offensive and defensive taijutsu user, and Kasei can defend because his teleporting jutsu lets him get to either of us instantly."

"Uh, close," Kasei thought about the arrangement hard, "but not quite. I agree, I should be defensive, but you forgot something. The taijutsu attacker can't use any jutsus. That means Naruto cant use his wind to enhance his speed."

"But if I do it, then I cant use my Gouwan strikes!"

"Yeah, but you've had more taijutsu training than him, and better evasive training. The taijutsu user is best used as a distraction anyway. If you keep him busy, I can deflect any ninjutsu attacks against you or dispel genjutsus, while defending Naruto against anything that comes his way. Meanwhile, he can hang back and wait for an opening. As soon as that opening comes, he can jump in with a Rasengan to end it in one hit."

Naruto was looking confused.

"But I don't get it." He whined. "Kasei, why can't you just be the taijutsu person, then just beat him up like that? We know you could do it."

Sakura slapped the back of his head.

"_Baka! _It's a _teamwork _exam! If he does it by himself, we'll fail!"

"Ok, ok…stupid thing…"

After clarifying a few more points of their strategy, the team turned to watch the matches before them. Several times, the jounin opponent was forced to switch out with a replacement after sustaining injuries too grievous to continue. Team Asuma's match was particularly rough on the jounin, ending in seconds. Ino used her evasive medic training to distract the man until Shikamaru could catch him in a shadow imitation jutsu which, having no offensive power on it's own, counted as a defensive technique. Once he was immobilized, it was simple for Chouji to drop an enlarged fist on his head, effectively ending the fight. Kurenai's team chose Hinata as their taijutsu combatant, while Shino used his bug swarms to deflect any of their opponents more powerful attacks up until the point where Kiba and Akamaru blew the target away with a cry of _Gatsuuga! _When Team Kakashi finally came to the arena, a new jounin stepped out. The man was massive, easily seven feet tall and seemed to be carved out of stone. Sakura gulped as she realized that she would have to charge him head on while Naruto and Kasei hung back. Seeing her hesitation, Kasei laid a hand on her shoulder.

"Don't worry. Even if you can't dodge, I guarantee he won't hit you."

She nodded, somewhat comforted, and ran at the man. He watched her approach with a smirk and swung a fist at her, but the medic ducked under it and threw a blow of her own. Without the chakra enhancing, however, there was hardly enough weight to make him flinch and he just laughed.

"It looks like your teammates chose the wrong person. How can you hope to hurt me?" Sakura gritted her teeth, knowing she couldn't refute it. "Well, maybe I'll just make your friends join in."

The jounin, forming a one-handed seal, lifted his arm to point at Naruto. Instantly, the limb darkened to actual stone and extended out towards him, forming a solid ram intended to crush the boy. Before it could reach him, however, Kasei appeared in between the two with his katana extended. The stone pillar smashed into the tip of the blade, but the swordsman sent a powerful electrical blast down the blade, shattering the rock. Sakura managed to score several hits on the jounin as he recoiled in surprise, but he shook them off unconcernedly, focusing more on maintaining a defense against Naruto. The Kyuubi boy circled endlessly, eager to put his devastating jutsu to use, but the enemy jounin never left an opening and even managed to attack Sakura occasionally. The combatants held at a stalemate for several minutes before the smallest slip from Sakura tipped the scales. A loose rock sent her off balance and the huge man used the opportunity to sweep her legs from beneath her. She winced fearfully as he swung his boulder-like fist at her, knowing she would be unable to dodge it, but Kasei's abilities were well up to the task. In a crackle of energy, he materialized over Sakura and caught the fist with his right hand, the green chakra design flaring slightly to absorb the heavy blow. Kasei locked eyes with the jounin and smiled.

"And now it's over."

"What do you mean, kid?" growled the man. "You can't attack, me."

Kasei shook his head.

"I can't, but he can." He retorted, looking over his opponents shoulder.

Kasei's simple taunt had distracted the man just enough to give Naruto his opening. The jounin whirled around just in time to catch a fully powered Rasengan to the chest. Without a sound, he was blown out of the arena and smashed into the wall, leaving a deep crater. Naruto began cheering himself as soon as he hit.

"Woo! You see that? BOOM, and down he goes. That's how the one and only Uzumaki Naruto does it! YEAH!"

Kasei just rolled his eyes and pulled Sakura to her feet.

"You okay?"

"Yeah." She brushed the dust off of herself as they left the ring. "Thanks for the save there."

"That was my job. You did yours well, so I returned the favor."

They sat back to watch the remaining matches, which went quickly. As the final team finished, the head examiner stood.

"Alright, very good! Now, all of you who have made it this far please move to the center of the arena." The few groups remaining clustered together in the ring. "Now brace yourselves!"

Several jounin surrounded the arena at evenly spaced positions. Simultaneously, they all kneeled and pressed their hands to the ring's edge, pushing chakra into it. A line appeared in front of each, then spread to connect with the others, forming a circle around the arena. Immediately, the arena began to sink down into the earth, causing a few of the chuunin to panic.

"Don't worry, this is just part of it!" called out the examiner. "The final duels will take place in an underground cavern."

The arena, now functioning as an elevator-like platform, traveled deeper down a massive shaft until it came to a rest at the bottom. Looking around, they saw that the shaft had expanded into a massive cave in which the only light came from the hole in the ceiling they had entered by. Then that, too, began to close, leaving them in total darkness.

"Hey, what's going on?" an anonymous chuunin yelled.

In response, a torch burst to life at one side of the cavern, followed by several more until they could all see in the dim light.

"This will be your arena." The examiner explained. "Dimly lit and full of shadows, the best conditions for a ninja. We will watch from the small alcove over there," he pointed off to the side, "while the rest of the world will watch on their televisions." This time he gestured up, indicating several cameras that were trained on the ninja. "The first match will be Nara Shikamaru verses Yamanaka Ino!"

Of the five teams that had made it to the finals, three were from Konoha, so it was reasonable that several of them would fight their comrades. Nevertheless, they were surprised at the choice of pairing as they moved off the floor, leaving the two alone.

"Shika against Ino." Marveled Sakura. "They're determined to make this interesting for us. Not only are they both Konoha, they're on the same _team_."

Chouji, the only remaining part of Team Asuma, just shrugged.

"That could be part of it. I mean, Ino and Shikamaru know each other's techniques nearly as well as they know their own. The judges want to see how well they improvise in tough situations. This could be hard for Shikamaru. He's a better strategist, but he has to hold still in order to use his shadow jutsus. As soon as he stops moving, Ino can send a mind switch jutsu at him."

"No. This was over before it started. The match is Shikamaru's."

Everyone looked at Kasei, who had spoken.

"How are you so sure?"

"Let's just say I gave him a few tricks. Just watch."

They all looked back to the arena, where the two teammates were facing off. Ino was being her usual energetic, chattery self while Shikamaru hardly seemed aware that they were fighting.

"I hope you won't get mad at me for hurting you, Shika-kun!"

Shikamaru just tucked his hands into his pockets with a sigh.

"Whatever. Let's just get this over with."

Ino charged at him, forming the chakra scalpels typical to medic ninja on her hands.

"Troublesome…she's gotten somewhat competent in taijutsu." Muttered Shikamaru as she approached.

Ino swung, but Shikamaru leaned back to let the blow narrowly miss his face. His bored expression never wavering, he bobbed back and forth to avoid the blades while Ino grew more and more frustrated. Finally, Shikamaru came to a halt as his back struck the cavern wall.

"Got you!" cried Ino delightedly as she lunged.

Her chakra enhanced hand sped towards the Nara's unprotected chest…and struck the unyielding stone wall behind him. Ino yelped in pain and surprise as the fine black mist that had been Shikamaru melted from around her hand and reformed behind her into the shadow user.

"What the…what the hell was _that_!" asked Naruto.

Kasei's expression was somewhere between awe and amusement.

"The third of the three great shadow jutsus. _Kage Kanyuu no jutsu, _the Shadow Joining technique. The degree of complexity behind it is mind boggling at best. In order to do it, you have to be able to visualize the microscopic shadow of _each individual cell _in your body. If you can manage that, then the next step involves melding each cell with its shadow, practically becoming part of it."

Naruto's face scrunched up as he tried to understand.

"I…don't get how you could do that. _Every _cell?"

"Only someone of Shikamaru's intellect could possible keep track of that many individual objects." Said Sakura. "It's a technique that none but the most brilliant minds can utilize."

Back in the arena, Ino had barely recovered from the shock.

"How did you do that? I've never seen that technique, and I know all of yours!"

While she ranted, Shikamaru kneeled and pressed his hand to the ground, then looked up at her.

"Kasei gave me some tips last night. _Kage Kairai no Jutsu._"

His finger's shadows extended and latched on to the kunoichi. Though he had not had the time or practice to master the fine control that made the technique so effective, it was still more than sufficient to immobilize the girl while Shikamaru pointed a kunai at her.

"Examiner, it's over."

"Winner: NARA SHIKAMARU!"

The cavern echoed with cheers as Shikamaru released the technique and lazily made his way back to the spectator's alcove. The Konoha ninja surrounded him, bombarding him with congratulations and questions. Refusing to even respond, the Nara simply leaned against the back wall to watch the next match. Shino was called to face a mist nin, but the bug user won in scarcely a minute, his destruction bugs hungrily leeching the chakra from his opponent. The third match generated some excitement, however, as Sakura was called to face a Sand nin. As usual, they bowed to each other just before the match, but the Sand ninja held the bow for a moment longer.

"Before we begin, Sakura-san, I wish you to know that I bear you no grudge no matter what the outcome of this match. We are all still indebted to you and your teammates for saving our Kazekage."

Sakura smiled, then settled into a fighting stance.

"We only did what was required of us a comrades, but thank you. Now, make Gaara-sama proud of you."

The Sand nin straightened, then nodded.

"Hai."

He instantly formed a seal, then locked gazes with Sakura. The world around her seemed to waver, then reformed into the barren desert of Wind Country. Sakura could feel the intense sun beating down her, and noticed the wind kicking up. In seconds, she was surrounded in a whirling storm of dust and sand. The sand fragments cut into her skin as they swept past, and it became apparent that she would soon be cut to ribbons. The heat and wind had muddled her thoughts, but slowly the word _genjutsu _surfaced in her mind. Cursing herself for not having realized it earlier, she hastily formed her fingers into the needed seal.

"Kai!"

Suddenly, she was back. From a kneeling position, she saw the surprise on her opponents face before climbing to her feet.

"That was quite the genjutsu." She complimented. "But I'm a medic nin. Genjutsu is almost useless against someone with fine chakra control."

Looking disappointed, the Sand nin quickly ran through his remaining arsenal mentally, but raised his hand a moment later.

"Examiner, I forfeit this match. I have nothing that will be useful."

The man nodded.

"Winner: Haruno Sakura!"

Naruto was practically leaping up and down in excitement as the kunoichi made her way back to her friends.

"That was AWSOME! We thought he had you for a minute, but then you woke up! Great!"

Sakura just shook her head and pushed away the excitable blonde to watch the next match. Chouji was called up to fight a mist nin and won easily, his opponents water attacks breaking harmlessly against his enlarged body. Naruto's match came up next and he too was paired with a Sand ninja. This ninja appeared to have taken lessons from Gaara at some point, and manipulated the sandy floor of the arena to form his attacks. Without the Ichibi, or even a part of it, within him, however, the attacks were hardly as effective or powerful as the Kazekage's. Utilizing his wind walking jutsu, Naruto easily avoided the many attempts to ensnare him within the sand and finally dove at his opponent with a Rasengan in each hand. Similar to Gaara's signature defense, a wall of sand rose up to stop the attack, but he lacked the jinchuuriki's strength. Even if it had been Gaara himself that Naruto faced, it was unlikely that such a thin wall of sand could deflect the fully powered chakra spheres. He tore through the defense, but stopped both attacks an inch from the Sand nin's wide, terrified eyes.

"I don't want to have to kill him, so just call it." The Kyuubi boy said to the examiner, who nodded in agreement.

"Winner: Uzumaki Naruto!"  
With a grin, Naruto dispelled the dual Rasengans and strode casually back to his friends with his hands behind his head.

"No problems there! Wonder who's next…"

His question was answered a second later when the examiner called out two of the three remaining Konoha ninja.

"Inuzuka Kiba versus Hyuuga Hinata."

Hinata froze the instant she heard her name and began shaking. Naruto came up to her curiously while Kiba bounded into the ring.

"Something wrong, Hinata-chan? Its just Kiba."

"T-that's the problem, Naruto-kun." she whispered. "I c-can't fight my own teammate. I couldn't hurt him."

Noting her hesitance, the examiner walked over.

"Something wrong over here?"

Hinata nodded.

"I don't want to fight him…I'd rather withdraw then hurt my teammate."

"Are you sure? You don't need to hurt him, just defeat him."

At this point, Shino stepped in.

"She's a Hyuuga." He stated bluntly, as if that should explain everything. "I've seen the Juuken style in action many times, and there's nothing nonlethal about it. If she fights Kiba, it will be nearly impossible for her to win without killing or seriously wounding him."

"Well, alright then." The examiner turned back to the arena and the cameras. "Hyuuga Hinata withdraws! Winner-"

"I forfeit too!" yelled out Kiba.

"Wha-"

"I can't win just because Hinata is too nice to fight me, so if she loses, I lose."

The examiner sighed.

"Fine. Match six is a DRAW! Remaining competitors, come to the floor."

After a quick hug from Sakura, Kasei walked out into the arena, followed by a Mist and Sand ninja.

"Obviously, this match will be a bit different." Began the head examiner. "Since there are three of you remaining, this will be one against-"

A rumble from above cut him off. The ceiling of the cavern began to twist open.

"This had better be good." The examiner muttered. "We're not supposed to be disturbed until the matches end."

A scared looking chuunin dropped down through the opening and raced over to the assembled ninja.

"Suna...attacked, gone…refugees in Konoha." he gasped out.

That was all he needed to say. Chaos sparked off among the examinees, not the least among them being Kasei. He turned from his opponents (the Sand nin was hardly in a condition to fight anymore anyway) and walked back to his teammates.

"We're leaving. Now."

They nodded quickly, but the examiner, fighting to be heard over the roar, clapped his hands together. The opening overhead snapped shut as quickly as it had appeared.

"No one is going anywhere!" he roared. "It's too late to do anything now, and you can all get the news as soon as we're done!"

Kasei turned to face him menacingly.

"We are leaving. Don't think closing the entrance will stop me."

"I'm well aware that it won't, but allow me to put it like this. If you leave now not only you, but your teammates as well will be disqualified. Could you do that to them? All that hard work for nothing?"

Kasei shot a glance at Naruto and Sakura, then looked back at the examiner.

"Fine. Let's get this over with."

The examiner nodded and managed to enforce order over the chuunin again.

"The final match will be the Mist and Sand against the Leaf. I don't care if you think it's fair or not, life isn't fair. Now go."

Kasei stood facing his opponents emotionlessly. The Sand kunoichi, whose face was now tearstained, raised her head to look at him.

"Finish this quickly, Kasei-san. I know you want to leave as much as I."

Kasei nodded, but the Mist ninja smirked.

"Quickly? He won't finish this at all. He doesn't stand a chance against us."

Distraught as she was, the kunoichi couldn't take the insult to one of her nation's heroes.

"Idiot. In Suna, he is known as _Hyakki no Kasei_, Kasei of the Hundred Puppets, for taking on an army of masterfully controlled puppets single-handed. We've already lost this."

The mist nin snorted distainfully.

"Speak for yourself." He formed a series of seals. "Kirigakure no Jutsu_."_

Instantly, the air around them began to fill with thick fog, obscuring all vision. Laughing inwardly, the Mist nin ran through the fog and stole up behind Kasei, then put a kunai to his throat.

"Hyakki no Kasei, eh? Pitiful, considering even I can beat you this easily."

"Hardly." Said the Leaf nin monotonously, then seemed to explode in a crackling flash. The Mist ninja was blown to the ground by thousands of volts of electricity and was entirely paralyzed by the attack. As soon as he fell, the mist began to disperse and he saw the real Kasei standing behind the Sand girl with the dull edge of his katana resting on her shoulder, an unsurprised look on her face.

"How…" the incapacitated leaf nin managed.

"Raiton Bunshin." Answered Kasei simply. "To touch it is like touching a lightning bolt."

Shaking his head in amazement, the jounin examiner walked onto the floor.

"Winner: Kasei!"

Without a second's delay, Kasei sheathed his blade and turned to his companions.

"Are you coming?" They nodded and ran up next to him. "How about you?" He asked the Sand ninja. "It's a bit painful, but I can get us to Konoha in just a few seconds."

Not even bothering to ask how, they ran up and joined hands with the Konoha ninja.

"Wait, don't you want to know your exam results?"

"At the moment, I couldn't care less. Goodbye."

They vanished in a flash, only to briefly reappear on the surface to get Kakashi and the Sand candidates jounin sensei. Then they were gone.


	25. Chapter 25

Chapter 25: Loss Chapter 25: Loss

Moments after departing the jounin exam island, the group appeared just outside Konoha's walls. A stream of injured and homeless Sand citizens were still making their way through the gates, each giving their names to the guards before being attended to by a medic. Hardly even stopping to thank Kasei, the Sand ninja ran off to find their families. The Konoha group made their way down to the gates at a more slightly slower pace, though Kasei was scanning the masses of people desperately. When the gate guards saw them, they brightened visibly.

"Sakura! Excellent, the situation is getting desperate at the hospital. Get over there as fast as you can."

She nodded and shot off, leaping across buildings at top speed. Meanwhile, Kakashi was attempting to pull a report from the guard.

"I don't know, really. We just heard that Suna was attacked and practically-"

"Destroyed." Cut in a tired voice. They turned to see Tsunade walking up. "Orochimaru was one step ahead of us the whole time. After attacking the Rock, he jumped right to Suna and hit it with everything he had."

"And…Sasuke?" ventured Naruto.

"We've gained some more information on him. It seems that he's their strategist. Orochimaru likely values him too much to risk him in front line combat, so he stays back and plans the attacks."

Naruto's face darkened as he surveyed the wounded masses. Kasei, who had been ceaselessly searching through the crowds, finally ran up.

"Where are they? Temari…and the Kazekage. Where are they?"

Tsunade, who had been expecting this outburst, sighed.

"We don't know. We haven't heard from Gaara yet, and it's safe to assume that Temari and Kankuro are with him."

"He'll be here." Said Naruto confidently. "Gaara wouldn't leave until every last living person was out and safe. When the last refugees get here, so will he."

Kasei shook his head in frustration and ran off, still searching and questioning people. Tsunade watched him pityingly.

"I feel sorry for him…he must feel so helpless. The fight is over, otherwise he'd go help, and he's not a healer, so he has nothing to do here. I hope that they're ok out there…"

Naruto's face was set determinedly.

"Baa-chan, we're leaving as soon as everything is stable here. Sasuke…Sasuke will pay for this."

"Good, but make sure Kasei is alright first. I don't want him going into that fight angry."

"You're afraid of what might happen to him?" asked Kakashi curiously.

"No…" the Hokage looked off in the direction Kasei had vanished. "I'm afraid of what might happen to Sasuke."

Hours later, a messenger bird flew in and landed next to Tsunade. She brightened slightly upon reading the scroll it carried.

"The Kazekage is on his way."

Naruto, who had been hanging around her the entire time, shot to his feet.

"Really? Great! Does it say anything else?"

"No, that's it. They'll be here within the hour."

Without another word, Naruto raced off to find his teammates. Minutes later, he appeared with Kasei and a tired-looking Sakura, who had been healing nonstop since arriving.

"So they're safe? When are they coming?"

Wordlessly, Tsunade pointed off over the wall. On top of a high hill in the distance they could make out a small group of people, those walking were carrying several more. Tsunade prevented her subordinates from racing out to meet then, so they could only wait until they reached the gates. Gaara, Kankuro, and a few other Suna jounin walked up and Sakura immediately began tending to the wounded that they carried. Kasei looked over every one of them instantly, his expression uncomprehending, before looking over to Gaara, who was conversing with the Hokage.

"Wh…where's Temari?" he managed, stammering for one of the first times in his life.

The Jinchuuriki broke of his report and walked up to his friend, sorrow plain upon his normally expressionless face. Then, wordlessly, he reached beneath his flack vest and pulled out two small objects. He handed them to Kasei and put a hand on his shoulder, then walked off. Kasei stood frozen, scarcely able to accept what Gaara had wordlessly said.

"Kasei…are you okay?"

His teammates had seen the exchange, but hadn't seen what Gaara had handed over. They were approaching concernedly when Kasei dropped to his knees, unable to support even his own weight anymore. Sakura rushed up as soon as he fell.

"Kasei, what…oh…"

Her question trailed off as she looked at his lap. In his hands he held two fans, beautifully made with gold casing, though stained with droplets of blood. Unsure of what to say, Sakura reached down in an attempt to comfort him, but touched nothing but air. She looked around wildly, but he had vanished. Kankuro stopped her from going after him.

"Just give him a while alone. Knowing him, he's likely unstable right now and left to keep from hurting anyone."

She looked up at the puppeteer.

"And how are _you _dealing with all this? She was your sister, after all…"

Kankuro sighed heavily.

"I think I'm still at the emotional shock stage…believe me, tonight I'll probly cry my eyes out. But at least she went out how she'd want to."

"How did it happen?"

He leaned back against a building.

"We were running. Someone must have pointed out Gaara as the Kazekage, because we had half the damn army after us. Without the main body of the Ichibi in him Gaara doesn't have the chakra reserves that he used to, so he was running low. Temari took a hit for Gaara that she knew his sand shield wouldn't take. It wasn't quite fatal, but she knew she'd never make it back with us, so she threw those two fans to Gaara and then went at the ninja following us, as crazy as I've ever seen her. We didn't see her go down but…" the puppeteer shrugged. "with a wound like that, it couldn't have been any other way."

"An attack that Gaara's sand shield couldn't block…what was it?" Sakura asked quietly, afraid of the answer.

Kankuro looked over at her sadly, well aware of what she was thinking, before answering with one word.

"_Chidori."_

Sakura swayed, unsurprised but entirely shocked nonetheless. Without another word, she drifted off towards the refugees. Unsure of how Naruto would react, she focused entirely on healing those she could until she was entirely out of chakra. Then, seeing the sun begin to set, she set off through the village, looking for her pained teammate.

As the sun dropped below the horizon and the myriad of colors spread across the sky, Kasei sank wearily to the ground atop the Hokage monument. Caimaru curled up at his troubled master's side and put his head on the boy's chest. In response, he simply rested a hand on his faithful companion's back while staring up at the gradually appearing stars.

"What do I do now?" he whispered out loud, though to no one in particular. "I can't just keep on going like she's still here…"

"So we'll get him." Came the unexpected response. "We'll get him, to drag him back or kill him, either way."

Kasei turned his face slightly and saw Sakura standing a few feet away, her face tearstained but set angrily.

"Get who?"

"Sasuke." She bit out. "He did this."

Kasei shook his head and returned to looking at the stars.

"He lead the attack, but he's no the one that-"

"Yes he is." Sakura interrupted. "Kankuro told me himself. Temari took a Chidori that was meant for Gaara."

Though he didn't move, Kasei's entire body tensed and his eyes slowly closed.

"Why…why are you telling me that? You know what I have to do now." He reopened his eyes and Sakura found herself staring at his activated bloodline, the jagged, star-shaped pupil surrounded by an eerie green glow. "You know I have to kill him."

Surprisingly, Sakura nodded grimly.

"And I won't stop you." She stated flatly, meeting the terrifying gaze head on.

Kasei was on his feet in a flash, inches away from her.

"And how do I know that? How do I know that at the critical moment, you wont jump in to save the love of your life, the oh so _wonderful _Uchiha?"

"I don't love him." She hissed back. "He's broken my heart one too many times, and this time it won't heal. I'm with you, for whatever needs to be done. If he cuts you down, I'll finish the bastard myself."

Kasei held her gaze for a moment longer but, when she returned it unwaveringly, he nodded shortly and sat back down, looking off over the village. After a moment she sat down next to him, then suddenly spotted a small, broken object a few feet away.

"Wasn't that important to you?"

Kasei shot a glance at the small flute, which he had shattered a short while before.

"It was relaxing. Music helped me forget everything and calmed me, but now…" he shook his head and looked away, "I don't want to forget. I don't want to start over and make a new life, it's over."

The kunoichi nodded in understanding, then stood.

"We're leaving tomorrow, but Tsunade-sama said to make sure you were alright. She doesn't want you going into this fight angry."

"There's no way I'm _not _going into this fight angry, just like there's no way she can stop me."

He stood, but suddenly swayed and nearly fell before Sakura caught him and concernedly ran a Shousen enhanced hand over him.

"Physical and chakra exhaustion…what were you _doing?_"

"Just…training. I'm fine."

She snorted.

"Just training, my ass. And if you're anything, you're _not _fine. C'mon, I'm taking you home."

Letting him lean heavily on her, she guided him slowly down the steps of the monument and through the village. By the time they reached his apartment, the sun had fully gone down. Kasei managed to withdraw a key and, after a bit of fumbling, unlocked the door and stumbled in with her. He made it to the couch before collapsing entirely and Caimaru leapt up after him. Sakura looked around awkwardly.

"Well…I'll see you tomorrow."

The boy was already unconscious, so she slipped out the door and ran to her own home to begin preparing.

The next morning came too soon. Sakura woke blearily and lifted her head from the table where she had fallen asleep. With a start, she realized what had happened and began hastily shoving scattered supplies into her pouch before running out the door. She skidded to a stop at the gate, just in time to meet the rest of her assembled team. Shikamaru was leaning against the wall, his ever present bored expression turned up towards the clouds. Kakashi was next to him, seeming equally uninterested in the rest of the world with his nose in his book. Naruto was pacing impatiently, while Kurenai looked around nervously, waiting for Kasei. A moment after Sakura arrived, Kasei appeared under the archway of the gate. Kakashi immediately snapped his book shut and straightened.

"Okay, Kasei, we're all here."

"Though I'm not sure why I am." Muttered Kurenai.

Kasei shot her an emotionless glance.

"Because very few things can slow down a large group of ninja quietly as effectively as a good genjutsu. We're trying to get in and out without drawing attention, according to Tsunade, so immobilizing them quietly is a better option than blasting them apart." The jounin nodded in acceptance. "Good. Now, you all now the objective, but I'll remind you anyway. Uchiha Sasuke is an A-ranked missing nin and the current general of Orochimaru's army. He has proven that he holds none of his past alliances dear, and so this mission is to either capture or eliminate him, whichever is more convenient."

Kakashi glanced at Sakura, expecting an outburst about the "elimination" order. To his surprise, she nodded grimly in acceptance of it and the outburst came from Naruto's direction.

"We can't kill Sasuke! Do whatever else you want but don't kill him! He can still come back."

"No, Naruto." Sakura spoke up sadly. "He can't."

Naruto's jaw dropped open and he stared in shock at his teammate.

"S-Sakura-chan? Wha-"

"He can't come back!" she said more insistently. "The Sasuke we knew is gone, that snake bastard killed him! When we meet Sasuke, he'll kill us with no more hesitation than if he'd never seen us in his life. Try to capture him if you want, but…" she looked down and whispered, half to herself, "he needs to die."

While Naruto gaped, Kasei put a hand on the medic kunoichi's shoulder and nodded.

"Good. We're traveling at top speed, to make sure they don't move again, but I'm not teleporting anyone. No one is expecting us, so there should be no traps or ambushes along the way. We'll stop and regroup at the Akatsuki cave, then move on to Suna. Those of you who don't know where it is, stick with someone who does. Now let's move."

Without another word, he turned and leapt away into the trees, Caimaru just behind him. The others hastened to follow him and Kakashi caught up with his female student.

"Sakura…is Kasei alright."

"Sasuke killed the love of his life, how would you feel about it?"

The copycat ninja sighed.

"I guess you're right…what about you? Are you okay with all this?"

Sakura's face was again set in the emotionless mask so similar to Kasei's.

"Of course. All these years, I've been convinced that Sasuke could be saved, but now…it's too late. He needs to be killed, both for the safety of the future, and for the things he's done."

Kakashi was taken aback and saddened by the bitter hate in the once-loving girl's voice.

"Sakura…revenge isn't a healthy path. If you keep up this line of thought, you'll end up no better than Sasuke."

Sakura looked over at her teacher with an angry expression, though tinged with a hint of sadness.

"I won't become like him…I won't, because after this mission, he'll be dead. That's all I want."

"What then? I've gone down this road, Sakura…if vengeance is all that matters to you, you'll lead an empty life after you succeed."

The girl simply sped up, pulling away from her teacher.

"So be it. I don't care what happens afterwards, this mission ends it all."

She caught up with Kasei and the two sped off, leaving Kakashi back with the other Konoha ninja.


	26. Chapter 26

Chapter 26:Sasuke Chapter 26:Sasuke

Kakashi didn't see his two young teammates until days later when they reached the rendezvous point. There, he and the other three found Sakura and Kasei hard at work. They had compiled all the scattered puppet pieces from their last visit and were repairing each one meticulously. When their companions reached them, they had just finished the last ones and then sealed them into a scroll.

"You two really fought…all those?" asked Naruto, pointing at the scroll dumbfounded.

"Yes." Answered Kasei flatly.

After tucking the scroll into his belt, he moved over to where Sasori's body lay. He bent down and searched it briefly before finding another scroll on it. Kasei opened it briefly to see what it contained, then closed it and tossed it to Sakura.

"Here's more of them. Less, but stronger I think."

Kakashi finally had to ask what was going on.

"Why are you collecting the puppets?"

"Just in case. Puppets don't require a lot of chakra to use, and they can do a lot of damage, so they're handy to have around. Especially these."

"Why those?" Naruto piped up.

Kasei held up one of the kunai used by the animations.

"Every one of these is coated in the most lethal poison imaginable, created specifically by Sasori. A single scratch will stop even Orochimaru."

"Interesting, but not relevant." Kakashi dragged them back to the mission at hand. "Kasei, you're supposed to be in charge of this mission. What do we do now?"

"Wait."

The others (minus Sakura) stared at him blankly.

"Wait for _what?_"

Kasei sat down on a rock and began idly sharpening the poison stained kunai.

"Wait for further intelligence. I sent some scouts out last night. They should be here shortly. I'd suggest getting whatever rest you can before then."

With that, he set out all his weapons and began cleaning each one methodically, completely disregarding the rest of his teammates. Resignedly, they settled in to wait. Naruto approached Sakura warily, making sure they were out of Kasei's hearing range.

"Uh, Sakura-chan?"

"Yes Naruto?" she answered calmly while sorting out her medical supplies.

"What's goin' on with you and Kasei? I know he's sad because of Temari, but…I dunno. It seems like you two are planning everything and just waiting for us to follow. And this thing with Sasuke…what's gotten into you?"

"Naruto…Sasuke killed Temari himself. I know he didn't have the same bond with Gaara and his siblings that we knew, but he still knew them. She stopped a Chidori that was meant for Gaara."  
Naruto's expression drooped at that statement.

"W-what? No, Sasuke wouldn't…are you sure?"

"Kankuro told me himself. As I said to Kasei, I've had my heart broken one too many times by that bastard. I can't forgive him this time, just like I can't let him get away with what he's done. I guarantee you that, when the time comes, he'll command the attack against Konoha just as mercilessly as he did against Suna. That's why we've got to kill him."

The Kyuubi boy appeared completely confused, unsure of how he was supposed to react.

"But…Sasuke…"

"I know, Naruto. He was our teammate, our best friend. But that's what he _WAS._ Now he's just a killer. Getting Itachi is the only thing that matters to him, and he won't hesitate for anything." She looked up as a trio of cats came bounding into the cavern. "Our intel is here. Remember what I said about Sasuke, Naruto. Don't try to stop us when the time comes."

She stood and walked away towards Kasei, leaving Naruto confused. Kasei conferred with his summons for a short time before standing and facing the assembled team.

"Alright. Sakura, you were right when you guessed that he would avoid being in the center of attention at the Kage tower. Orochimaru himself has taken up residence there. The target is in a small house on the outskirts of the town. Unfortunately, there's a heavy wall guard, and he also seems to have some personal guards."

"So how do we get in?"

Kasei pointed to Kurenai.

"I need to hit them with one of two types of genjutsu. Either shift their perception of the surroundings, so they don't see us coming, or something that will completely incapacitate them. After that, Shikamaru and I will shadow shift onto the other side of the wall and secure the immediate area before the rest of you come over. After that, it's your job again, Kurenai. Stop the guards if you can, though they will likely be less susceptible and at a higher level than the wall guards. Shikamaru will attempt to catch them in a shadow bind at the same time, in case they avoid the genjutsu, while Kakashi and Naruto eliminate them with whatever ranged attacks they choose."

"Eliminate?" Kakashi spoke up. "If they're immobilized, is that necessary?"

"Yes. We can't risk them the slightest noise, and nothing shuts someone up as effectively as killing them."

The surrounding ninja felt a small chill at his cold attitude, but decided to set aside any moral conflicts for later. Kasei finished describing his plan briefly.

"After the guards are eliminated, we'll enter the house. Shikamaru, I want you guarding with Kurenai. Neither of you are heavy fighters, and Sasuke won't fall for a genjutsu anyway. Instead, keep hidden and try to eliminate any reinforcements before they can be a problem, or at least warn us in advance. Naruto, Kakashi and I will engage Sasuke directly and try to end it as fast as possible. Sakura…" The kunoichi's face was once again an expressionless mask. "Remember our fight here? I need you to play the same role. Hang back as a medic and conserve your chakra for healing until an opening presents itself. We will be trying to take him down ourselves, but if the opportunity presents itself…finish it."

She nodded without hesitation, but Kurenai was somewhat unsure about the plan.

"You're talking as if this fight will take more than seconds. Sasuke should be approximately the same level as Naruto. A jounin and two recent jounin examinees should be overkill against him."

Kasei began to shake his head, but it was Sanera who answered.

"Whatever you assume about Sasuke's skills, forget it now. Orochimaru intends to use his body as a container for himself, and so has trained him as hard as possible, to ensure that both his physical and chakra strength is up to par. To put it shortly, the Uchiha is powerful. _Very _powerful. We can only hope that the three of them are up to the task."

"It's not a problem. He's as good as dead." Said Kasei flatly, then glanced outside. "Alright, we leave now. Night should have fallen by the time we make Suna."

Only Sakura immediately followed him as he strode away. The others followed hesitantly, though Shikamaru hardly seemed to care either way. Kurenai conferred with Kakashi quietly.

"I thought this was a retrieval mission, not an assassination. Kasei seems convinced that we'll have to kill him."

"It doesn't matter whether capturing him is possible or not. Kasei and Sakura intend to kill him either way."

Kurenai watched the two ahead of them and shook her head sadly.

"I don't like where this is going. They shouldn't have been given this mission."

"We couldn't have stopped them. Sasuke has done too much to Sakura and, even though Kasei has never met him, he's already past forgiveness in his eyes. Temari meant the world to him."

"Apparently. Can you hold them back, when it comes to it?"  
Kakashi shook his head without hesitation.

"Kasei would have already been a tough match for me when he came to Konoha. Now, with his absolute mastery of lightning…I doubt I could touch him. I wouldn't fancy a match against Sakura, either. Against the two of them together…well, I don't want to find out."

Naruto dropped down beside his former teacher just as he finished speaking.

"Uh Kakashi-sensei? Are Kasei and Sakura-chan ok? They're acting all weird…"

"I don't know if they'll ever be alright again, Naruto…they've each been through too much. I know you cared for Sasuke, but Sakura truly loved him with all her heart. He just crushed that, though. When we meet Sasuke, keep out of their way."

Naruto quieted, unsure of even how to react, and they sped along in silence. Soon, they cleared the forest and reached the barren desert. The shifting sands slowed their progress slightly, but neither Sakura nor Kasei ever wavered, and their companions followed wordlessly. The walls of what had been the Hidden Sand came into view just as the last rays of sunlight vanished over the horizon, and they finally could see the devastation wreaked upon it. Large portions of the towering walls had been smashed and many of the buildings visible within were blasted and scorched. As they came closer, they could make out hundreds of campfires throughout the city, as well as dozens of ninja milling about each one. Without a sound, they stole up to the base of an intact wall. Kasei signaled Kurenai to begin and moments later they heard the soft thuds of collapsing bodies. The two shadow users vanished through the wall and reappeared ready for battle, but there were none to oppose them. Their companions soon joined them and together the intruders stole towards the house indicated by Sanera. Receiving the awaited signal from Kasei, Kurenai and Shikamaru sent their attacks at the guards, catching them before they knew what hit them. As soon as they were down, Kasei and Sakura ran to the building and slipped inside, followed by Naruto and Kakashi who tactfully knocked out the guards instead of finishing them. They caught up to the other two inside, standing at a doorway. Past them was a small living room with a fire blazing at the hearth. The only furniture was an overstuffed chair in the corner, but a circular rug was placed nin front of the fire. In the very center was seated a black haired young man, lounging back on his arms with a sword laying across his lap

"…Sasuke…" whispered Naruto.

Seeing that his companions were frozen by a variety of overwhelming emotions, Kakashi decided to take control.

"Uchiha Sasuke, you're under arrest. Come peacefully, and no one will get hurt."

Unhurriedly, the Uchiha turned his head to face the team.

"Kakashi-sensei…" he drawled. "Three long years, and that's all you can say? And what about you, Naruto? No yelling and ranting, or even blind attacks. So much has changed…and Sakura-"

"Shut up, Uchiha." She hissed and, for the first time, Sasuke looked surprised.

"Such anger, coming from the little flower…it seems that even you've grown up. Very well, if you don't want to talk, I see no point in drawing this out." He lifted one arm and drew it back. "_Chidori Senbon!"_

He swept it forwards, as if throwing a weapon. The telltale chirping of birds filled the air and a dozen darts of electricity leapt from his hand and sped towards the Konoha nin. Only Kasei managed to move fast enough, barreling into Sakura and knocking her out of the way. Naruto and Kakashi managed to avoid the worst of it, but the minor hits they took were nearly as deadly as a critical strike. The electricity sizzled through their body, effectively paralyzing the two. Sasuke raised an eyebrow interestedly as Kasei stood.

"Fast enough to dodge the senbon…who are you?"

Kasei waved Sakura back, indicating that she should keep to her assigned role.

"The people of this village called me Hyakki no Kasei."

"Kasei…" mused Sasuke. "So you're a puppeteer?"

"Hardly." Kasei pushed back his hood and activated his bloodline before assuming his relaxed ready stance. For the second time, Sasuke radiated amazement.

"Another bloodline…and one I have not heard of, at that. Fascinating." Then he noted Kasei's stance. "You intend to fight me with taijutsu? Surely you know that I'm an Uchiha. The Sharingan does not let us lose to mere taijutsu."

Kasei's expression didn't waver.

"We'll see. Come, Uchiha, prove that your fabled Sharingan is all that I've heard."

Sasuke noted the slight mocking tone of Kasei's voice and let his bloodline blaze to life angrily.

"Let us finish this, so I can dispose of the girl." He snarled, then lunged with impossible speed.

Impossible for most others except for Kasei, that is. The tiny sparks controlling each of Sasuke's movements told him exactly how he would move a split second before the motion began and, for someone like Kasei, a split second was more than enough. Unused to his attacks being foiled by any but Orochimaru (and not even him, lately) Sasuke was completely shocked when Kasei easily caught his incoming fist. The follow up kick was also caught and before he could get in a third blow, Kasei drove his foot into his stomach and threw him into the far wall. With a slight stagger, the snake sannin's prodigy straightened a few seconds after impacting. He growled angrily when he saw Kakashi and Naruto recovering, largely due to Sakura's efforts. The patterns of the curse seal began to spread over his body and Kasei adopted a slightly more cautious stance.

"Naruto, what does that thing do?"

The Kyuubi boy's eyes narrowed when he saw the activated seal.

"It increases his speed, strength, and chakra. But…it's also connected to Orochimaru. He knows something's wrong now."

"Then we'll just have to hurry things along."

Kasei drew his katana, but Sasuke laughed.

"Let me show you a real weapon, Kasei." He said mockingly while drawing his Kusanagi sword. "Let's see how well you stand up to this!"

He lunged eagerly with his sword held high in two hands.

"_Chidori Nagashi!"_

A bright flash blinded everyone in the room as the two swords met and Sakura screamed out in terror but, when their vision cleared, the saw Kasei still standing, his katana holding back the Kusanagi.

"Wha-…how?" Gasped Sasuke. He had never seen anything stop the Chidori so completely, and so effortlessly. "That's not possible."

Kasei twisted his sword sharply and thrust, forcing Sasuke to desperately stagger out of the way.

"I'll give you a tip about fighting me, Uchiha." He growled. "Don't use your pitiful lightning techniques. I _own_ that energy!"

He slashed at the air in front of him and a crackling wave spread out, seeking to consume Sasuke. Once again, however, he narrowly avoided the attack and stood slowly, disbelieving.

"No! You will die!"

He dropped his sword and flicked through seals in an instant.

"_Chidori!"_

This time, Kasei allowed the blow to connect. Sasuke's hand smashed into his chest and he flew back, crashing through the wall and falling to the ground.

"Heh, " Sasuke smirked, "it looks like the lightning wanted a new master after all."

Sakura ran to Kasei, already focusing healing chakra into her hands, but Kasei caught her wrist before she could go to work. Incredulously, she stared at him, but he only winked in response before standing easily. Sasuke's jaw nearly hit the ground.

"You can't do that!"

Kasei tilted his head from side to side, cracking his neck, before grinning viciously.

"Looks like I just did, Uchiha. Naruto." The blonde, still slightly dazed, snapped to attention. "Give me some support here."

Confident that Naruto understood, Kasei charged. Sasuke hastily grabbed his sword in time to block the attack and even avoided being electrocuted before Kasei launched into an all out offense. Orochimaru had apparently spent a great deal of time instructing Sasuke in swordsmanship, and he managed to match enough of Kasei's attacks to avoid serious injury. They seemed to be at a stalemate until Sasuke suddenly learned how Naruto intended to "support" Kasei. The two were fighting too closely to risk a full size Rasengan, but the tiny marble-sized variations were perfect. Sasuke suddenly felt a burning in his shoulder as a tiny chakra ball drove into him, followed by another in his leg. Kasei smirked as his opponent fell to the ground and attempted to scramble backwards.

"And now, Sasuke, you're finished. Temari will be at peace."

The Uchiha grimaced in pain.

"Temari? That bitch who saved the Kazekage from me?" Kasei let out a low growl, but Sasuke continued. "What did she mean to you, eh? Did you _love _her, Kasei?"

Not even bothering to answer, Kasei just raised his katana and swung at Sasuke with all his strength…only to have it stopped by another blade. Kasei glanced up in surprise to see that the sword was held by a long snake and at the other end of the snake stood Orochimaru. With a curse, Kasei leapt back and brought his weapon into a guard position, but Orochimaru made no move to follow.

"Kabuto, see to Sasuke-kun." he ordered

A grey haired ninja with glasses rushed up and lifted Sasuke, then darted away with him. With a yell, Naruto sped off after him, followed by Kakashi. Orochimaru, meanwhile, slowly advanced on the remaining Konoha nin. Kurenai and Shikamaru had joined them, seeing no point in their guard duty now, but Kasei still remained out front, following the sannin's every move with his blade.

"Well, well. What do we have here?" said Orochimaru. "It seems like a group of Konoha rats has wandered in and gotten lost."

Recovering from his surprise, Kasei took a step forwards again.

"I'll warn you once, Orochimaru. I held back against Sasuke because a quick kill is too good for him. Against you, I'll hold no such reservations."

"Yes, it did seem like you were going easy on my dear student. Interesting…my spies have told me a lot about you, Kasei-kun. They say that I should fear you. But," he tilted his head slightly, "you do not seem so powerful, even with that strange bloodline."

When Kasei didn't waver, his companions attempted to pull him away but he brushed them off.

"Kasei, he's too much for us. We can't beat a sannin."

"No, you can't…but I can. Just stay back."

The sudden commanding tone in his voice made them back down reluctantly. A strange smile ghosted around Orochimaru's features.

"I _feel _every nuance of your chakra, Kasei-kun…maybe you should listen to your friends. You can't match me."

As if to back up his calm statement, a long snake burst from the ground at Kasei's feet and coiled around him, completely immobilizing him. The boy's expression didn't waver as the serpent tightened its hold. A second later, a burst of electricity fried the snake and dropped it to the ground.

"Your little pets won't help. Fight me yourself, or I'll kill you."

Orochimaru's face twisted in anger.

"Have it your way, boy. Die!"

The legendary kusanagi sword leapt to his hand and thrust at the boy, who easily spun out of the way and retaliated. They met in a quick flurry, too fast for any of the watching ninjas to follow. Only when they paused could anyone see the long gash that had appeared on Orochimaru's arm. The sannin glanced at it with a snarl.

"Lucky hit, boy. It won't happen again."

He attacked with a fury. The clang of swords came so fast, it almost sounded like a constant ringing, echoing around the room. A wave of snakes leapt from the ground to ensnare Kasei, but a rapid triple back flip carried him out of the way and an arc of electricity cut most of the snakes apart.

"Save your chakra, old man." Kasei flipped through several seals and pressed his hands to the ground. "My cats like snakes too much for you to keep wasting them."

On cue, a half dozen cats, ranging from a bobcat to a tiger, appeared and immediately set on the surviving serpents. In anger, Orochimaru slashed at one of the felines, but Kasei intercepted his blade.

"Your fight's with me. Don't forget it."

They clashed violently, the ring of steel occasionally interrupted by the crackle of lightning or the hiss of snakes. It seemed the fight would never end until a shout interrupted them.

"Kasei, we've got trouble!" announced Naruto as he raced in.  
Kasei executed a quick double slash that left Orochimaru slightly open, then drove his foot up into the man's chest, sending him flying back. The blow wasn't very heavy, but it put space between the two and the sannin eagerly took the moment's reprieve.

"What?" asked Kasei, now that he was temporarily free to talk.

"Most of the army is headed here. Someone must have set off an alarm."

Kasei glanced out the window that Naruto had entered through.

"Did you get Sasuke? Where's Kakashi?"

"Still following them. We saw the army while we were chasing them and Kakashi said I should come back to warn you. He'll handle Sasuke and Kabuto."

"Stupid. You're stronger than Kakashi now. _He _should have been the one to come back."

Naruto shook his head.

"No, that's why he sent me. You're the only one who can hold off that army. Sakura-chan and I can take Orochimaru. Kurenai and Shikamaru will start heading for Konoha. If we don't make it, then at least they'll know what happened."

The lightning user glanced over at the sannin, who was climbing back to his feet.

"Alright, but be quick. Even I can't hold that many forever."

The two briefly clasped hands, then Kasei sheathed his sword over his shoulder and headed towards the door, but Sakura caught his arm first.

"Kasei, be careful."

He looked down at the medic kunoichi. There was a look in his eyes that she recognized, even through the bloodline design. A look that she hadn't seen since he had stood against one hundred puppets, ready to give his life without hesitation. Then he smiled slightly.

"Don't worry, I will."  
She knew he was lying, but before she could say anything he had vanished out the door, leaving his summons to help her and Naruto. With a sigh, she looked over to Kurenai and Shikamaru.

"You heard them before. Neither of you have techniques for a fight like this. Get out of here and report back to Konoha. With luck, we won't be far behind you, but you'll know what happened if we don't return within a few days."

Kurenai nodded.

"Captured or killed, I understand."

"No." Said Sakura coldly. "Just killed. We won't be taken alive."


	27. Chapter 27

Chapter 27: Consolation Prize Chapter 27: Consolation Prize

Calmly, Kasei strode out and rounded the corner. A short distance away was the advancing mob, the front line of which stopped when he appeared.

"You one of the Konoha brats that snuck in?"

Kasei glanced theatrically down at the leaf-marked plates on his gloves.

"So it would seem."

The man who had spoken grinned and pulled an oversized sword off his back.

"Good. Lord Orochimaru's gonna pay me extra for taking care of you."

"Oh, I don't believe he will be in a position to pay anyone. Provided you live that long, of course."

"What do you mean, kid? No one could beat Orochimaru."

Kasei sighed.

"On the contrary, I believe he's in there taking the beating of his life. Doubtful that he'll survive."

The man looked at the small building in which the battle was occurring, then back at Kasei.

"C'mon, boys!" he cried. "Triple pay for anyone who helps out Orochimaru!"

With a roar, the mob drew weapons and rushed at Kasei, who simply sighed.

"Here we go again." He went through a few hand seals, then dropped to one knee and pressed his hands against the ground. "_Sawa Asai!"_

From the point where his hands struck the ground, a small amount of water rose from the ground, turning a large area beneath the advancing army into marshy mud. A few of the men slipped and fell, and they halted their advance.

"Mud? And not even enough to trap someone." The man laughed. "Work on your techniques, little boy. Come back to face us when you have a better attack."

Kasei smiled slightly, but the expression was heavy with malice.

"Its not the mud you should fear. It's the water."

With that, he released tens of thousands of volts of electricity into the newly created marsh. To those unfortunate enough to be standing in the damp area, it was like getting hit with a lightning bolt. Some screamed and spasmed, while others just dropped silently. Those who remained regarded their fallen companions in horror, then looked at the single boy in a new light: one of cold fear. Kasei, meanwhile, stood and brushed off his hands.

"Well, I don't think that trick will work twice, so," he drew his katana in one hand, then drew the matching wakizashi in the other, "who's next?"

Bellowing in anger, the army charged at Kasei. He waited motionlessly until the first one came into striking range, and then moved. Faster than any of the snakes or cats battling within the small house his blades flicked out, cutting the man a dozen times before he realized he'd been struck. Another attempted to attack while Kasei was distracted, but the shorter blade came up to parry twice before drawing a line across his throat. Then the full mob was on him. Any conscious thought of blocking and attacking vanished as Kasei gave himself over fully to the whirling rhythm of his blades. Whenever the opportunity presented itself, a bolt of lightning leapt from his hands to strike down an attacker before he again was pulled into the swirling melee. Fire danced in his eyes as a slow smile spread across his face.

"Watch me now, Temari." He whispered. "Let me show you how to dance."

His sudden laugh startled the men and their hesitation cost them. The last thing they saw was the boy launching into a complex spin before the impossibly fast blades cut them apart.

Orochimaru straightened with a sinister grin as Kurenai and Shikamaru vanished out the door.

"Sending off an experienced jounin? Not a wise plan. I'll finish you two easily."

Sakura's face twisted and her fists began to glow from the amount of chakra compressed in them.

"Sasuke would have never become the way he is if it wasn't for you." She hissed. "You won't walk away from this."

Before he could react, she lunged with all the speed she could muster. He raised his arm to block her punch, but the enhanced blow shattered the limb. With a cry of pain, he leapt back.

"I see you've inherited my lovely friend Tsunade's strength." He managed through gritted teeth.

"She's no friend of yours." Sakura growled back. "And she would be quite happy to know that her techniques will be used to kill you."

A snake slid down the sannin's arm and coiled around it, then squeezed to force the bone back into place.

"You're not the little runts I destroyed so easily in the forest of death anymore. I'll have to finish this quickly."

His sword, held by yet another snake, shot out towards Sakura, but was deflected by a powerful gust of wind.

"Don't forget me, Orochimaru." Naruto stepped forwards, a Rasengan beginning to swirl in each hand.

The sannin looked from Sakura's glowing fists to Naruto's swirling spheres.

"So, the students of both my old teammates. How fitting…I'LL BURY YOU BESIDE THEM!"

A forest of snakes erupted from the ground around them, but Naruto was prepared. The dual Rasengans dissipated instantly and were replaced by a cutting gale, which tore the serpents apart. When the swirling dust and snake parts cleared, Sakura, leaping for him at full speed, confronted Orochimaru. He barely ducked the heavy strike and swung his sword at her unprotected back. Naruto, his speed enhanced by the wind, kicked the sannin's hand with enough force to knock the kusanagi out of his grasp. A pair of marble-sized Rasengans met the snake that extended to retrieve it and ripped into it, while Sakura used the momentary distraction to smash her fist into his chest. Orochimaru flew through the air and hit the wall as t shot from a cannon, then slumped.

"Did that get him?" Sakura asked hesitantly.

Before Naruto could reply, the body twitched. Its mouth opened and stretched to let out another body, an exact duplicate of Orochimaru.

"I can't believe you brats have forced me to use this."

Naruto and Sakura watched with mixed horror and disgust as the reborn body straightened.

"Did he just…grow a new body?"

Sakura gulped.

"I think so…looks like we need to get a one hit kill in, otherwise we could be at this all day."

Naruto nodded and formed two clones of himself, then all three fired up a pair of Rasengans.

Kasei ducked under the swing of an axe, but never lost his momentum. He came up out of the low spin, each blade snaking out to cut down yet another attacker. The number of bodies that now littered the ground was countless, but more and more kept coming. The single boy who had dared oppose the vast army cut a bloody swath through the waves of men. A dozen cuts were scattered over his body, some superficial and some frighteningly deep, but he seemed not to notice any of them. All that existed in his world was blow and counter blow, defend and attack. The laughter had long since faded from his face and was replaced by a deadpan expression. Scores fell to his blade, but not an emotion touched his face; not anger, sorrow, joy or fear. Instead, he had become a pure weapon, every inch of his body moving precisely where it was needed to dodge, defend, or kill. There was no real attacking, because an attack sequence would imply a corresponding defense. None of the massive army possessed the skill to defend against such an onslaught. When the razor edged katana reached out for them, all they could do was die. And so they did, by the scores, by the hundreds. Kasei had long since lost count of how many fell, and had long since ceased to care. All that mattered was giving his teammates inside enough time to finish the monstrosity they battled, and if the only way was to annihilate the army before him, then so be it.

Unknown to Kasei, the fight inside was as good as finished. Orochimaru had been forced to regenerate twice more and the technique was taking its toll. Weakly, he stumbled out of the way of another Rasengan, only to run straight into Sakura's fist. The impact shattered an arm and splintered the ribs beneath and her follow-up kick nearly snapped his neck. One of Naruto's clones drove a Rasengan into his stomach and the sannin was sent spinning into the wall. Dazed from the shock and pain, he could barely make out the two students of his former teammates as they approached him.

"You can't win." He gasped. "I'll always come back! I'll take your precious Sasuke's body, then more and more. You can't kill me."

His face entirely serious, Naruto began forming a Rasengan.

"Yes, we can." The blue sphere mixed with thousands of microscopic wind blades and large blades faintly appeared around the ball, giving it the look of a throwing star. "_Rasen Shuriken!"_

The last thing Orochimaru saw was the wind-enhanced shuriken diving towards his face. The swirling ball crushed through skin and bone while the wind blades sliced inside him, shredding both flesh and chakra pathways. By the time the attack dissipated, what was left of Orochimaru was barely recognizable. A slight smile crossed Naruto's face.

"We're done here."

Then his expression twisted in pain and he clutched his arm. Sakura instantly turned to him.

"What's wrong?"

"That technique…it was the only way to ensure that he was dead, but it's very unstable." He pulled back his sleeve to show his arm, which was covered in small lacerations. "The wind damage affects my arm. My chakra paths are shredded."

Sakura began to use her healing chakra on the limb, but just as quickly stopped and shook her head.

"Even fully rested, I don't know if I could fix this. It'll have to wait until we get back to Konoha. A team of medics can work on it there.

Naruto nodded and dropped his sleeve back down.

"Come on. Let's go get Kasei. I hope he hasn't gotten himself killed."

Together they stumbled out. What they saw there would stay with each of them forever as one of the more gruesome and fantastic sights either had ever seen. Hundreds of dead bodies lay scattered across the ground, some slashed to pieces but most taken down by one precise cut. A churning mass of men was still up and fighting, however, and their friend was nowhere to be seen.

"Kasei!" Sakura yelled out.

Instantly, a figure shot up from the mob and landed next to them. Kasei, covered in blood and numerous wounds, straightened and faced them.

"Is it done?"

Both of the others nodded.

"We won't have to worry about him any more."

Kasei breathed a sigh.

"Good. What about Kakashi?"

On cue, the senior jounin appeared with the rest of his team. His clothes were torn in several places and one arm hung limply at his side, apparently immobile. He also was favoring one leg heavily.

"Here. I couldn't get Sasuke. By the time I caught up, Kabuto had mostly healed him and I couldn't hold both of them." He gestured to his wounded limbs. "I ran when those damn chakra scalpels crippled my arm. I had no chance without being able to form hand seals."

Kasei nodded.

"We'll have to get him another time. For now, we've done enough. Sakura and Naruto took out Orochimaru at least."

Kakashi looked at his two former students in amazement.

"So you really have surpassed me. If they were with him, what were you doing, Kasei?"

Kasei gestured to the bloody battlefield and the hesitantly advancing enemies.

"I've been busy enough."

Kakashi's jaw dropped as he surveyed the area.

"All…all this was you? I'd assumed Sakura and Naruto helped…"

"We just finished Orochimaru, Kakashi-sensei." Cut in Sakura. "Kasei was out here to buy us enough time to finish it."

Kasei interrupted before she could explain further.

"We need to get out of here. There are stronger ninja than this lot somewhere in this city, and I don't think any of us are in a shape to take out many."

No one had time to reply before the enemy army managed to work up its courage again.

"They're all hurt. Now's our chance! Charge!"

Kasei spun, sheathing his blades and raising his arms in one motion.

"Get _back!_" Crackling tendrils of lightning leapt from his hands, cutting into the first wave and blasting them back into the next. "Come on, before they recover!"

He leapt off to the wall and the others, snapping out of their shock at the powerful attack, raced after him. They ran for hours, stumbling over the loose sand. Kasei refused to let them stop until they reached the old Akatsuki cave, which he deemed to be safe enough for a short time.

"We can rest here for a while." He announced. "Just long enough to recover some chakra and let Sakura tend to the more serious wounds."

Sakura began to head for him, but he waved her off.

"I'm fine. Tend to them first."

Doubting that he was fine, but unable to refuse an order from the team leader, Sakura moved to Kakashi. His wounds were crippling, but not hard to repair. Needing to conserve her remaining chakra, she repaired just enough to give him mobility in his arms and legs again, leaving the less serious wounds for the medics in Konoha. Naruto had very little damage that she could do anything about. A few cuts from Orochimaru's sword were easily bandaged, but his arm was too serious. She used just enough chakra to keep it from being damaged any more on the return trip, but didn't even try to repair it fully. Instead, she turned back to Kasei, only to see that he had vanished.

"Did anyone see where Kasei went?"

Kakashi just pointed out the cave entrance. Sakura rushed out and looked around, but he was nowhere to be seen. Instead, she picked up a faint chakra signature up river. After following it for several minutes, she finally found Kasei leaning against a tree on the riverbank.

"Hey…you didn't let me tend to you at all before rushing off."

"I told you, I'm fine.

She crossed her arms.

"Kasei, whenever you say that, you're _never _fine. Now let me see."

He stood up with a resigned sigh and removed his long coat and flak vest, then his shirt. Though not as serious as the last time she had tended to him, he was definitely not "fine", as he claimed to be. A foot long slash up his side showed muscle and bone beneath, and another cut was so deep it was a miracle it had missed anything vital. Sakura shook her head and sighed.

"You're lucky I was expecting this and saved some chakra for it." She put her hands on his chest and began pouring green chakra into him. "You're so thick headed sometimes, I don't know why you're even alive."

Kasei didn't respond, and she didn't look up at him until she had healed as much as she could.

"There, mostly done. Just go easy on it…though I doubt you'll follow that advice." Again, he didn't reply. "Kasei?"

He blinked and looked down at her.

"Oh, uh, thanks."

Sakura's smile faded when she saw the look in his eyes.

"Kasei…it wasn't your fault. Things happened that we didn't plan."

He shook his head, denying her logic.

"It shouldn't have mattered. I swore I'd kill him, and I didn't. I should have gone after them."

"If you did, the rest of us would have likely been overrun by that army and killed. You know it was the only way."

"But…he's still alive. I had that bastard Sasuke in my hands and he got away…"

Sakura slid her arms around him and hugged him.

"I know…I feel the same way. But we'll have other chances."

"Yeah…"

He hugged her back and closed his eyes, trying to calm himself, until he suddenly felt soft lips against his.

"Wha-" he opened his eyes and saw Sakura's face an inch away. "What are you-"

She kissed him again, harder, and he found himself involuntarily kissing her back.

"This isn't right…" he murmured, breaking away for a moment.

"No, it's not." She agreed, then kissed him a third time and ground herself against the stirring in his pants. He let out a groan before pulling back again.

"I don't love you…hell I don't even _like _you like this."

"And I don't love you." She cupped her hand between his legs, feeling his building hardness. "But we both need this. Just stop thinking about it."

He finally gave in with a moan as her hand wrapped around his length. He reached down to squeeze her round ass. She gave an encouraging gasp while stroking him through his pants, so he used his other hand to pull down the zipper of her shirt. Her breasts were small, but perfectly round and she whimpered as he squeezed one and pinched the hardening nipple.

"Stop teasing…" she whispered. "I need you now."

He pushed down the tight shorts beneath her shirt and she stepped out of them before he slid his hand under her skirt. He could feel the heat coming from her several inches away, and when he touched her she was soaking wet.

"No time for that." She hissed, pulling his hand away. "The others might come looking for us. Just get in me."

She unfastened his pants and pulled out his long cock, already rock hard, and he switched places with her. Sakura bent forwards and braced her hands against the tree while raising her ass as much as she could. He pushed her skirt up more and slid his tip over her dripping entrance before pushing it in. He barely got an inch in before slowing.

"Fuck, you're so tight…I can't even fit."

"Virgin," she gasped, "but the pain part got taken care of a while ago. Just keep pushing."

With a quick nod, he pushed harder. Slowly, inch by inch, he slid in, stretching her all the way. Sakura moaned louder and louder as he filled more of her until he was buried to the hilt. Unable to restrain himself, Kasei pulled back, then drove back in faster, bringing a cry from the kunoichi.

"I'm not gonna last long…your pussy's too tight." He grunted, but her only response was a gasp as he pushed in. She reached one hand down and began toying with her clit as he pounded in and out of her, bringing herself closer to the edge.

"_Harder…" _she moaned. "_Fuck me."_

He drove as fast as he could and the sound of their skin slapping together echoed around them. The kunoichi's first orgasm hit her hard and she bit her lip to keep from screaming as the waves of pleasure rolled over her. It had barely finished before the next one began and this time Kasei knew he couldn't hang on. Her muscles clenched around his cock and he came hard in her. Sakura lost control and screamed as his hot cum boiled into her. He pounded her harder while pouring into her and she could do nothing but scream and whimper until there was nothing left.

"KASEI-KUN!"

With a groan, he slowly slumped to the ground. She fell back with him and lay on him, feeling his cock slowly softening inside her. The feeling of his hot cum trickling out of her drew a small giggle.

"You know, ever since I first started thinking about sex, I always was sure Sasuke would be my first…now I just threw it away on someone I have no romantic interest in, just to do it."

Kasei slid out of her and lifted his head slightly to look at her.

"Regrets?"

She shook her head.

"I don't think I can love anyone but Sasuke, but I can't forgive him either." She laughed quietly, almost to herself. "In hindsight, a good fuck is just what I needed to move on."

Kasei was about to reply when a shout startled them both.

"Kasei? Sakura-chan? Where are you?"

With a curse, Sakura rolled off Kasei and tugged her skirt back down, then closed her shirt. Without time to pull on her shorts, she tucked them into the pouch on her waist. Meanwhile, Kasei closed his pants and threw on his flak vest just in time before Naruto barreled into view.

"_There _you two are. What were you doing this whole time?"

Sakura flushed, fortunately hidden by the dark, and stammered over a reply, but Kasei slipped back into his unemotional persona and answered easily.

"She was just healing me. Some of the injuries were worse than I thought, so it took a while."

Fortunately, Naruto readily accepted the excuse.

"Well, c'mon now. Kakashi and I are ready to travel if you are. "

Kasei nodded and stood up before pulling his coat on and stuffing his shirt into a pocket, then followed Naruto. Sakura waited until the blonde had his back turned before fishing out her shorts and using them to wipe away the cum running down her leg, then threw them into the river. With any luck, no one would notice they were gone until she could get new ones at home. The three of them found Kakashi, then set off for Konoha to report the failed mission's interesting results.


	28. Chapter 28

Chapter 28: Chapter 28:

Tsunade sighed and leaned back in her chair, looking over the four ninja in front of her.

"So, the mission failed, but Orochimaru is dead. That's what you mean to tell me?" Kasei, making the report as team leader, nodded. "Well…that seems as fair a trade off as any. That snake has been a danger for too long. You will receive the full pay of a successful mission, as well as a…substantial bonus."

Naruto's ears perked up.

"Bonus? What bonus?"

Tsunade pulled out her copy of the bingo book and flipped through to a marked page.

"Orochimaru: S-ranked Konoha missing nin. Bounty: 60 million ryo." She smirked at their amazed faces. "Now, unfortunately, killing him was a team effort. Naruto and Sakura, you fought him, but Kasei was the only reason you could, so the bounty will have to be split three ways. 20 million each."

Sakura and Naruto's shocked expressions didn't fade in the least, but Kasei hardly seemed to care.

"I don't need the money." He gestured over to Kakashi. "Give it to him."

Kakashi's jaw dropped so far that it was visible even beneath his mask.

"Really?! 20 million ryo is a lot…are you sure you don't want at least some? I don't think-"

Kasei cut off the silver-haired jounin's babblings.

"Just take it. Like I said, I don't need it. I have plenty."

Kakashi seemed on the verge of passing out, while Naruto was apparently in the process of calculating how many bowls of ramen he could order with the reward. Only Sakura was remotely restrained, and even she was visible excited. Kasei, however, just looked back to Tsunade.

"If that's all, I'll be leaving now."

He turned away, but the Hokage called him back and jolted his teammates back to reality.

"A few more things. Your jounin exam results are in. All three of you passed in good standing and have officially earned the rank of jounin."

"Yeah!" Naruto jumped up and danced around the room, dragging a grinning Sakura along with him. After a moment, Tsunade cleared her throat in order to regain their attention

"There's more. Kasei, Sakura, I ran a request by the council while you were gone and the approved. Your actions on the mission have only reinforced the decision. I'm appointing you each the rank of special jounin, in your own area of expertise. Sakura in medicine and healing and Kasei in close combat." Both began to protest, but she silenced them. "Don't argue. Sakura, you have a bit to learn still, but you've proven yourself capable of surpassing even me. Kasei, there's no one in this village who can even come close to you in terms of taijutsu or swordsmanship, so don't even bother complaining."

Her curt statement shut both of them up, but it hardly satisfied Naruto.

"What about _me_, baa-chan? Why do they get to be special and I don't?"

The Hokage sighed.

"Naruto. Shut. Up. I'm not finished yet." Still pouting, the blonde boy quieted a bit. "Alright, this next part is a bit hard for me personally. As you know, Orochimaru was Jiraiya's and my teammate. The three of us were called the Legendary Sannin. Even after Orochimaru betrayed us, we still were renowned as some of the most powerful ninja. But we're old now, and Orochimaru is dead. We can hardly be considered the ultimate 'three ninja' anymore. It's time to…pass the torch, so to speak."

Kakashi's eye widened as he began to realize what the Hokage was hinting towards.

"Tsunade-sama…surely you don't mean-"

"Yes, I do mean just that. The three of you have proven repeatedly that the next generation will almost certainly surpass the last, and has done so in some cases. So I feel safe in entrusting the title of sannin to the three of you. It's not an official rank and the only thing it earns you is respect, but I think you understand what it means."

Speechless, the three young ninja could only bow. Even Naruto was dumbstruck by the sudden turn, but it was only the beginning.

"Now for the final part. Naruto, this concerns you in particular, so just listen. I know I hide it, but I'm old. Too old for this. Before now, the village has been in too much danger to turn over to new hands, but I think you've changed that. Orochimaru is gone. Sasuke may still be at large, but it will be several years before he can become a serious threat, if he even intends to. I've decided this lull in events is a perfect time to step down, and for the next six months I'll be training my successor."

She calmly stared at Naruto until her implications sank in.

"Wha-…_me? _You're naming _me _the next Hokage?"

His eyes widened to the size of saucers and then, just as suddenly, he passed out cold. Kakashi glanced at him hesitantly, then back at the village leader.

"Hokage, are you sure? Surely someone else...Sakura or Kasei even!"  
Tsunade shook her head.

"The number one job of the Hokage is a protector of the village. To do that, the Hokage needs to be a warrior, not a healer. I'm sure Sakura will be of invaluable assistance to the next Hokage, but she's not right for the position herself. Besides, being both a medic and the head of the village is too much work for anyone. Trust me, I know. As for Kasei," she looked over at the stoic boy, "I don't think he would take the position of Hokage if I offered him a 200 million ryo annual paycheck. That's what makes Naruto special. He _wants _it, more than anyone I've met."

Slowly, Kakashi smiled.

"I guess you're right. It's been his dream for longer than I've known him."

"I know. Now, that's all for now. Kakashi, would you carry Naruto out of here? I need to get ready for when he wakes up…it's going to be chaotic, at best." With a nod, the older jounin vanished with his former student. "Now, you two could use some rest. I doubt you've had any since leaving."

Sakura stood on shaky legs and gave her teacher a short bow before heading for the door.

"Oh, and Sakura?"

She glanced back.

"Put some shorts on."

With a small squeak, the pink-haired kunoichi turned bright red and tugged on her skirt before bolting out the door. Tsunade then trained her gaze on Kasei, who hadn't moved.

"I want to make sure one thing is straight with you. Sakura is almost like a granddaughter to me, and I won't see her hurt. I know you're broken up over Temari, but that's no excuse to use her-"

Kasei cut her off with a glare.

"I'm not even going to ask how you found out, and I really don't care. I'm not using her at all. She understands the situation perfectly and feels the same way."

Tsunade sighed and bowed her head, wondering how the world could be cruel enough to break two people at such a young age.

"Alright, I'll trust in her judgment. What do you want, aside from that?"

"I just want you to know that I intend to make full use of the 'sannin' title. You and Jiraiya both left the village to travel, and I'm going to do the same. I don't think I can stay in Konoha now…nowhere is home for me anymore."

"I don't like it…but I can understand how you feel. You're free to go, as long as you answer a simple question first."

"What?"

She gave him a hard look.

"Do you intend to maintain your allegiance to Konoha? Or should we consider you a potential threat?"

Kasei was silent for a moment, then pulled out a single yoroi toshi and drew it across the plate on the back of one glove, leaving a long scratch over the leaf symbol.

"I'm no longer officially a Konoha ninja. Anyone who sees this will know that." He raised his other, kekkei genkai-enhanced arm and showed her the second glove with its unmarred symbol. "However, my allegiance is still to Konoha. I'll be there if you ever need me."

He took off the glove and tossed it to Tsunade, who let it fall onto the desk in front of her.

"Keep that for me. If and when I come back, I'll be needing it."

The Hokage nodded.

"When do you intend to leave?"

"As soon as possible. Likely tomorrow."

Tsunade sighed and nodded.

"Alright, you can go. The village will miss you…they need heroes in these times."

Kasei shook his head.

"I'm no hero. A hero fights for what is right." His gaze slipped out of focus as he stared out the window behind her. "I fight for vengeance…for Temari." His eyes snapped back to her. "I fight to win, nothing more."

"I don't believe that, and I don't think you do either, Kasei, but have it your way. If not the village, then your friends at least. Do them and yourself a favor…don't just vanish. Let them know you're leaving. Take the time to say goodbye."

"I will. And to you first, Hokage-sama." He offered her a deep bow. "Arigato, Tsunade. In the months I've been here, you've been accepting and even kind to the stranger who walked through your gate. I won't forget that."

Tsunade stood and, surprisingly, bowed just as low.

"You've done much for us as well, Kasei-san. You've helped rid us of an old enemy and accelerated your generation to new heights with your training. This village owes you more than most us will ever know. Arigato."

Without another word, Kasei straightened and walked out the door. The Godaime watched him until he vanished down the hall, then regretfully took his glove and put it in a desk drawer.

Outside, on top of the Hokage monument, Kasei took a deep breath of fresh air as he watched the sun slowly beneath the horizon. When the last ray vanished, he rose with a sigh. There was a great deal to do before tomorrow and he intended to leave before the first rays of sunlight, giving him even less time. Despite this, he took his time walking home, taking the longest rout possible to remember every inch of the city. Back at his apartment, he withdrew several small, blank scrolls and sat down to write out a letter on each. After completing them, he wrapped one around a thin package before performing the summoning jutsu. Sanera appeared, perched as always on Caimaru's back.

"Long time no see." She quipped, then noted his solemn face. "We're leaving Konoha. I'll explain later, but for now I just need you to deliver these. Make sure that no one will find them until tomorrow."

Sanera nodded and gathered up the scrolls, then vanished along with the large wolfhound. Kasei then turned to his room and began gathering his things. Scrolls were resealed and their contents put away. All his possessions were transported to the village within just a few of the scrolls, and it took no more to carry them away. Nearly everything was stowed when he heard a sudden knock at the door. Ever cautious, his right hand formed into a short blade before opening it but, to his surprise, Mitarashi Anko staggered in.

"What are you doing here?"

She looked up at him, bleary eyed, and for the first time he noticed the bottle of sake in her hand.

"Well, if it ishn't lover boy himshelf." She slurred. "Been lookin' for ya."

He closed the door behind you.

"You're hardly in a state to be out and about. What do you want?"

Anko acted like she hadn't heard him. Instead, she looked around the room, blinking rapidly.

"Real empty for someone who's livin' here?" Then she caught a glimpse of the full pack in the corner. "Looks like you're leavin'…"

"I am." Kasei managed to guide her to the couch. "I can't stay."

"'Cuz of Temari?"

The woman's drunkenness seemed to be fading already and the slight spark in her eye indicated she knew exactly what she was talking about.

"Yeah, because of Temari…I'm not going anywhere in particular. Just going to wander, like before."

Anko stared off into space for a long while and her eyes slid in and out of focus, evidence that she was still far from sober. Just when Kasei was sure she wasn't going to say anything else, she spoke up.

"I loved her too, yanno." Kasei's head shot up, more in surprise at the randomness of the statement than actual shock. "You might not believe me, but I did. I dunno if she ever really loved me, but I do know she loved you, more than anything else. I was jealous from the first second I saw you but…I'm glad she died happy, at least."

Kasei barely glimpsed the tear forming in her eye before she angrily swiped it away and took another swig of the sake bottle.

"Ah, look at me, startin' to blubber all over."

"There's nothing wrong with crying over someone who died."

She turned her gaze on him.

"There is for someone like me…you should know how that feels. How many people would be amazed to see the great Hyakki no Kasei crying? Here." She held out another sake bottle to him. "You need this as much as I do."

After a moment's hesitation, he took it. A lopsided grin spread over Anko's face when he opened it.

"To the two of us." She said, raising her bottle in a mock toast. "Crazy bastards, too stubborn to cry"

Kasei clinked his bottle against hers and began drinking.

_2 hours later…_

A dozen bottles were scattered over the floor of Kasei's living room. Uproarious laughter emanated from the couch, on which sat the two special jounin were sprawled. Kasei was seated at one end, with Anko's head in his lap as the two recounted stories about their mutual lover.

"So, there we were in this tavern surrounded by these drunk bastards. One of them was stupid enough to hit on Temari."

Kasei groaned in between laughs and threw an arm over his face.

"What'd she do?"

"Well, after a minute of her screamin' at him, the guy opens his pants and pulls out his dick, not too impressive might I add, and just says 'blow me, bitch'. Now, how do you think that went over?"

"Only one way possible…"

"Damn straight. She put on the most evil smile I've ever seen and said, 'If you insist'. The guy was pushin' towards her face when her fan came out. She blew him all right. Blew him straight through the wall."

Another roar of laughter echoed around the room.

"Poor guy. That was one of the worst things he could have said…she didn't like blow jobs."

Anko let out a delighted laugh as well.

"I never knew! She never mentioned it."

Kasei rolled his eyes, still grinning.

"I doubt it ever came up, considering neither of you had the required equipment."

"Equipment, eh? You mean _this?"_

She ground her head back against him and felt a slight jerk in response.

"Yes, that's _exactly _what I mean. You'd better behave yourself…"

She tilted her head back so she was looking at him.

"Or what? What could you possibly do to little old me?"

Kasei's eyes had slipped away from her face. Seemingly accidentally, her coat had slid open and revealed her fishnet-covered breasts. Instead of turning away, as he would have without the alcohol, he merely raised an eyebrow.

"I gotta say, I have a very nice view from up here."

Anko glanced down at herself, then back up with a devilish smile, making no effort to cover herself

"Oh, you like those?"

"Hell yes."

She smirked and took his hand, then put it on one of her breasts. Her smile faltered slightly when he squeezed, a slight hiss of pleasure escaping her.

"Good…because I like what I'm feeling down here."

As soon as he had seen her breasts, hardly concealed by the fishnet, she had felt him beginning to harden. She now turned her head and somehow used her teeth to unfasten his pants.

"That's quite the trick." Kasei commented, just before pinching her hard nipple lightly. Anko moaned slightly and looked up again, her eyes beginning to darken with lust.

"I picked it up a while ago." Another jerk of her teeth opened his pants enough to let his hardening cock out. She eyed it hungrily as it rose up an inch from her face. "My, my…I see why Temari liked you so much."

Now it was Kasei's turn to smirk.

"Just seeing is only half the fun."

"I'm sure…" She slowly dragged her tongue up his semi-erect length. "You know, I don't have any of the reservations you tell me Temari had."

He groaned quietly.

"Well why don't you show me?"

Without another word, she slid off the couch and dropped her coat before kneeling between his legs. After eyeing him for a moment, she locked eyes with him and slowly took his tip into her mouth. He gritted his teeth and threw back his head as she began working. Her tongue swirled circles around him as she gradually took more of him. By the time he was fully hard, Anko knew she would never be able to take him all in her mouth, but still held down as much as she could. Kasei tangled his hands into her hair as she began bobbing up and down, giving the occasional nip when she came up. He felt himself jerk after a few minutes but held on, determined to last. Anko could feel him throbbing and groaned, one hand cupping his balls while the other slid down her own body into her skirt. She fingered herself hard for a moment, and her moans were more than Kasei could take. He came hard into her mouth, gushing down her throat. Anko took every drop, though, and sucked at him hard until there was nothing left. After a minute she lifted her head, another smile in place.

"As good as that was, I hope you're not done."

In response, Kasei pulled off his shirt and kicked his pants off the rest of the way. Anko's short skirt and scanty fishnet covering vanished just as fast before he pulled her into his lap.

"Far from done." He hissed into her ear.

She reached down to grip his cock eagerly and, true to his word, he was nearly fully hard. Gripping her ass, he lifted her and pulled her forwards, driving into her in one swift motion and drawing a squeal of delight. With her hands on his shoulders, she bounced energetically and kissed him hard. While she wasn't as tight as Temari or Sakura, her experience more than made up for it. They writhed together for what seemed like hours, rolling into position after position. Kasei pounded her with all his might and the kunoichi screamed with every thrust, orgasming repeatedly around him. Her screams peaked when he rolled her to her back and lifted her legs, then drove in as deeply as he could. She grabbed his ass and clamped him against her as he felt his cum explode into her a second time, filling every inch and leaking out. He silenced her screams with his mouth, tangling his tongue around hers even while pumping into her. Eventually, they released each other and rolled apart, gasping for breath. Anko began laughing.

"What?"

"I…I'd have gone after you too…if I knew you could fuck like that." She gasped out.

A grin broke Kasei's face as he stretched out, arms behind his head.

"You'd have had to fight for it. I never planned to do this with anyone but Temari."

Anko's smile faded as she thought about what he had just said.

"I'm sorry…I shouldn't have gotten you all turned on like that, if you didn't want-"

Kasei cut her off with another laugh, though sadder now.

"I don't care anymore. Just as long as you don't expect a real relationship out of it."

"Never did, never will." She yawned and stretched. "Damn, you know how to wear a girl out."

He laughed again.

"You can sleep here, don't worry. Just don't expect me to be here when you wake up."

Anko trained her gaze on him.

"Isn't there an 'or' to that statement.

"Or…you can wait a few minutes until I'm ready to go again." He finished with a wink.

"Now that's what I wanted to hear." She sat up slowly, her hand tracing over her body to between her legs. "Now whatever will I do until then?"

Kasei could already feel himself stirring as he watched her fingers slide into her pussy.

"I'm sure you'll think of something."


	29. Chapter 29

Chapter 29:Farewell

_Chapter 29:Farewell_

Kasei rose and dressed as the barest hint of light crested the horizon. He kissed Anko on the forehead lightly and left a small scroll by her side before slinging his pack over his shoulder. Sanera and Caimaru appeared through the window just as he turned to the door. The feline shot a glance over at the sleeping, naked Anko.

"You and your women. I thought humans were supposed to mate for life."

"We do, Sanera. But if the one we wanted to spend our life with leaves or passes away…often, nothing can fill the void they left behind. I doubt I could ever commit again."

Sanera nodded slowly.

"I think I understand, oddly enough." She glanced around the room to make sure everything was in order, then nodded. "I won't bring it up again. Let's go."

Together, they vanished out the door. Early risers throughout the village may have noticed the boy walking through the streets with a large dog at his side and a cat curled up on its back but, living in a village of ninja, they had seen far stranger sights and readily dismissed it. The front gate was closed when they reached it, but that was hardly an obstacle. Kasei looked back at the Hidden Village of Konoha, knowing he would not see it again for a long time, before vanishing into the shadows.

Naruto's Apartment

Hours later, Naruto woke with a yawn. '_What happened?'_ he thought to himself. '_We came back and reported to granny Tsunade, then she started giving some speech…then she said…' _Naruto suddenly sat bolt upright in bed.

"I'm the next HOKAGE!" he yelled.

Without another thought, the blonde boy leapt out of bed and began dancing around the room, waving his arms wildly. He only slowed when he noticed a strange scroll on his nightstand. Still ecstatic, he bounced over and tore off the seal, then began to read. The wide grin slowly faded as he saw what was written.

_Uzumaki Naruto_

_ I wish I did not have to write a letter like this, but I don't see any other way to do it. If I told you all this in person, you and everyone else would try to stop me and likely manage to talk me out of it. I know I need to do this, however, so I can't give you the chance. I'm leaving Konoha, for a while at least. I know I have friends here, something worth living for, but a great deal of it all died with Temari. Be sure that I'll be back someday, whether of my own accord or because the need arises. I intend to follow Sasuke's movements as best I can while gathering information on his plans, as well as moving against him when I can, though I don't foresee any opportunities to challenge him directly. If I learn anything important, I'll send you what I can._

_On a different note, congratulations on your imminent appointment as Hokage. You were unconscious when Tsunade explained her reasons, but I have to agree with them. Of everyone I have ever met, you WANT it the most. That is what makes a Hokage; not just the ability, but the true desire to protect people. If there is something I don't have it is the gift of prophecy, but I believe that you could become one of the greatest Hokages in the history of Konoha. Rule well over the village; they're good people for the most part, if a bit judgmental. _

_The small package I left you contains a candle. While you may think that it is an odd gift, it is the candle's ability more than the candle itself that is important. If you ever need me, simply light the candle. It won't summon me directly, but the shadow it casts will send a message to me. I'll come as soon as I can. I would entrust this to Sakura, but I can't be sure she won't call me just because she's lonely or misses me. Also, as Hokage, you'll be in a better position to judge when I'm truly needed or not. _

_ Take care, my friend._

_ Kasei_

_P.S. At eight o'clock, go to the top of the Hokage monument. You'll find the others there, and learn more then._

Naruto glanced at the clock as soon as he read it and saw that he had only ten minutes until the appointed time. Suddenly solemn, the Kyuubi boy rushed to get dressed.

Sakura's House

Sakura woke slowly, still exhausted and sore from the mission. She finally opened her eyes and stood, yawning, before preparing for her day at the hospital. Her yawn was suddenly cut off, however, when she opened a drawer and saw a scroll sitting neatly inside. '_That's funny…I don't remember putting that there.' _She slowly opened it, and tears formed in her eyes at what it said.

_Dearest Sakura,_

_ There's no easy way to say this, so I'll just tell you what I said to Naruto. I'm leaving Konoha for a while, maybe a few years. I knew if I waited to say goodbye in person you'd talk me out of it, so I left before you could. I'm sorry it had to be like this, but I don't see any other way. I'm going to investigate Sasuke's movements as best I can and try to hinder him where possible. It's up to you and Naruto to be prepared for when he finally strikes. I'm counting on you both to be ready. Help rebuild the Hidden Sand and make Konoha stronger than ever. I know you can do it._

_If it is ever truly imperative, Naruto has a way to contact me, but it is not to be used for anything trivial. I'll be back of my own accord at some point, don't worry. Until then, make me proud of you and the village._

_ Love and Friendship always,_

_ Kasei_

_P.S. At eight o'clock, go to the top of the Hokage monument. You'll find the others there, and learn more then._

Sakura stared blankly at the paper, reading it over several times before the enormity of what was being said hit her. With a sudden yelp, she dropped the paper and dove for her clothes.

The Hokage Monument

Sakura and Naruto arrived to find a small crowd waiting for them. Neji, Hinata, Tenten, Kakashi, Shikamaru, Ino, Kiba, Anko and Tsunade were all there, as well as Gaara and Kankuro.

"So, it looks like the whole gang is here." Said Kakashi. "Do we know what we're here for?"

Gaara spoke up.

"I have it. It was left with the letter Kasei sent to me. It's another letter, for everyone."

"Well, read it!" Insisted Tsunade.

The Kazekage nodded and unrolled another scroll.

_To all my friends,_

_ You can't possibly know how much it means to me to be able to say that. The fact that in such a short time, I've gained all the friendship I was missing throughout my earlier life is incredible to me. I'll miss each of you, and swear to you all I'll be back. _

_All that aside, I've brought you together for a purpose. All of you are prominent figures in the villages, well respected and listened to. It is up to you all to prepare yourselves and your comrades for what is coming. After our last mission to Suna, I left some spies to watch Sasuke. Their reports tell me that Sasuke intends to continue on this path. He is in hiding for the time, but is rebuilding his army and training them all personally. This is a threat unlike anything you've encountered before. In addition, the Akatsuki are still out there, using the tailed demons for whatever their plan may be. Naruto, you will be safer as the Hokage, but not invulnerable. The attack on Gaara has proven that to us. We are now in the eye of the great hurricane that has struck. The first half, Orochimaru, is gone, but the second will be every bit as fierce as the last, if not more so. The only thing we can do is fortify. This is the only time we have to prepare, and we cannot waste a minute. I'll send more information as I receive it. Until then, farewell._

_ Kasei_

When Gaara finished, the gathered ninja gaped in a shocked stupor. Even Gaara was thrown by the frightening news.

"What can we do?" whispered Sakura.

"As he said, the only thing we can." They all turned to face Naruto, who had spoken. He, in turn, was looking out over what would soon be his village.

"Prepare to fight."


End file.
